#Dani (wanting to) see a tulip

[here-there-everyfuckenwhere]

“You deserve to be with someone who makes you feel like you’ve been struck by lighting”

Well what about someone who makes you feel safe and special and comfortable and like you’re home when you’re actually in a different country?

[xysidhequeen]

The King And His Red Knight

Part 11

Parts 1-7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Warning: Jason's rampant vulgarity and love of creative cursewords

Danny woke up right when they reached the edge of Gotham, a cold shudder traveling through his body that dragged him from one of the best naps of his afterlife.

He knew what woke him. And knew he'll have to deal with it eventually. City Spirits can be territorial, but they all still fell under his purview. Even if not a one of them liked it, too used to being rulers of their own small kingdoms and viciously protective of the people they watched over.

This one didn't feel half as hostile as he expected, it was almost...welcoming.

If he ever returned to Amity, he thought this might be what it felt like.

Danny thought it might have something to do with the fact that he saved one of her Robins. And that he's bringing him back.

Perhaps it hadn't been only Clockwork who had a hand in their meeting, two and a half years ago.

Gotham loves her Robins, dearly. But Jason had always been Gotham's Robin. Born and raised in her streets, as connected to her people as the spirit itself was.

He still had the impression Gotham was watching him, wary, but willing to accept him. He saved her Robin, and he brought him back. That bought him a lot of goodwill.

He'd need that goodwill, seeing as he was planning on staying in Gotham for as long as Jason wanted to be here. And as much as the other halfa didn't want to admit it, Danny didn't think they'd be leaving for a very long time.

The Infinite Realms was home for Jason now, but it would be a grave injustice to say Gotham had ever stopped being Jason's home.

Danny let out a yawn that cracked his jaw as his eyes blinked open slowly. He was pressed against a warm chest, a thick arm wrapped tightly around him. A low, rumbling purr under his ear encouraged him to shut his eyes again and fall back to sleep.

Danny snuggled closer to Jason for a moment, noting absently that at some point in their sleep both of them had transformed back to human form. It was more a surprise for Danny than Jason. But being human had stopped feeling so unsafe sometime after he found Jason. Danny couldn't say for sure when the other halfa had banished the last of his fears with nothing more than his presence, but he had.

Jason was dressed in his tan leather jacket over a bright red hoodie, a pair of dark jeans and scuffed motorcycle boots. He smelled like cigarette smoke, leather, gunpowder and metal. A smell Danny has long grown accustomed to, and his mind now equated to home. To safety, to a ready smile and a sharp tongue that hid a soft heart.

Slowly Danny tried to pull back, but the arm around him only tightened, flattening him back onto a broad chest. Danny huffed out a breath in amused annoyance.

Jason had shot up and out over the past two and a half years. He almost matched Danny for height, those scant few inches Danny had on him a sore point. But what Jason lacked in height compared to Danny he'd more than made up for in muscle mass.

Danny didn't think anyone could beat Jack Fenton in pure size, but Jason had done his damndest. The man was built like a brick shithouse. And one of his tree trunk arms was holding Danny in place like a lanky teddy bear.

Danny sighed and let intangibility wash over him and lifted himself out of the, very comfortable, embrace. Being that close to Jason while conscious was doing dangerous things to his heart.

If Danny thought the butterflies and skipping heartbeats would fade over time, he'd been wrong. So wrong.

If anything the butterflies had unionized and multiplied, holding riots in his stomach regularly. And if he hadn't already been dead he'd fear weekly heart attacks.

But Jason had never even implied an interest, and Danny was loathe to approach him. Jason might put about as much stock in Danny's title as he did in the existence of Mothman, but Danny never wanted his friend, his best friend, to feel pressured to date him because Danny was his king.

So. Danny's crush stayed locked tight and the butterfly union never got their demands met.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Danny hissed, barely remembering to keep his voice quiet.

"Finally done cuddling your boyfriend?" Sam called out from behind the wheel. Danny flushed, scrambling away from Jason, arms waving wildly in the air.

"Uh huh. Right. And I'm Batman." Sam's voice dripped sarcasm and Danny rolled his eyes as he phased through the back of the passenger seat, buckling himself in as if he had anything to fear from a car crash.

Danny turned his head and located Tucker, head resting on his keyboard as random letters kept typing into a word doc. Danny chuckled quietly as he looked forward, taking in the sights.

Gotham looked much the same as it had the last time he'd been here. Only difference this time being that it was day. The heavy cloud of death and fear still coated the city like tainted paint, fueling the ambient ectoplasm that was most definitely a result of one of the several curses Danny could feel woven through the city.

"It's gorgeous here. I'm never leaving." Sam sighed dreamily as she swerved around other cars who seemed to take traffic laws as suggestions.

"We almost there?" Danny asked as he checked the touchscreen navigation on the dash.

"Almost." Sam nodded, taking a turn fast enough to make the tires squeal but no heads even turned.

"Did you and Tucker switch off? You could've woken me up to drive." Danny rested his elbow on the door, chin in hand.

"Dude, you needed the sleep. Your bags had bags." Sam chastised and Danny flushed.

Alright, maybe planning the destruction of the GIW and liberation of their prisoners had taken up his time for the past several days, meaning he got no sleep, but still!

"And here we are." Sam raised a hand and pressed one of many buttons on the dash.

She took another sharp turn and barreled towards a derelict warehouse, a wall opening smoothly seconds before collision. The van slid inside, and the door dropped behind them. In front of them the floor rose, revealing a tunnel that Sam drove down.

Darkness covered the van, lights flashing by as they continued along for several minutes before another wall opened and Sam drove into what looked like a bunker. Several motorcycles and other cars waited for them, an elevator sat across from them that would lead them to the rest of the hideout.

Something like this, smack in the middle of Crime Alley no less, did not come about overnight. No, it had been the work of years, Danny using the basically unlimited funds of the King of the Dead to slowly put it together.

He'd always known Jason would want to come back to Gotham, and Danny had prepared for that day.

Danny phased back through his seat as Sam turned off the van. Settling next to Jason, Danny reached out a hand and gently shook his shoulder. He let a wash of Calm/Safe/Home/Calm cover Jason, knowing far too well how violently Jason could wake up.

Danny didn't judge. He'd frozen Jazz several times back in Amity when she tried to wake him up. It was a side effect of being a hero.

"Mmmph. Wazzit?" Jason slurred, blinking sleep heavy eyes at Danny.

"We're here. Time to see our new home away from home." Danny grinned at Jason, slipping his hand from the other halfa's shoulder to his hand so he could tug Jason up.

"Wait we're already here? The fuck? How long was my undead ass out?" Jason regained his sense quickly, green tinted blue eyes clearing as he looked around.

"Apparently as long as me. Tucker and Sam put us in nap time time-out." Danny chuckled, letting intangibility wash over himself and Jason as he tugged the other man out of the van.

Why use a door when you were a ghost?

"Wait. Are those my bikes?!" Jason demanded, rushing forward, Danny tugged along behind him like a balloon as he let go of gravity and floated along.

"Yup, even Nightmare." Danny nodded at Jason's pride and joy, his baby.

The bike Johnny had given him had changed a lot since he got it. It almost resembled a horse made mechanical, and Danny knew it would spit flames out of its exhaust when it was started. It was painted a dark red that shone almost blood red under the right lights.

"When did you guys do this?" Jason asked, free hand running lovingly down the side of his bike.

Danny was a weak enough man to admit, this wasn't the first time he'd been jealous of a fucking motorcycle. At least Jason hadn't realized he still had Danny's hand gripped in his.

"Right before we left for the mission. Johnny and I moved all the bikes over." Danny said with a shrug.

"So do you want to stay in the basement or do you want to see the rest of your surprises?" Sam called out from where she was dragging a half asleep Tucker out of the van.

"Wait. Where the fuck are we?" Jason asked, finally registering they were in a building.

"So we paid attention to all your safe house and base spiels." Danny started as Sam and Tucker walked over.

"And I know a thing or two about how to buy things without a trail." Sam added in proudly.

"And I'm not bad at finding condemned and abandoned buildings no one wants." Tucker raised his head with a yawn.

"And I have the money and manpower, do you have any idea how many construction worker ghosts there are? A lot. So many of them die angry, its a problem. To make just about anything happen." Danny finished nodding around them.

"So you three....made a what? Next gen fucking Batcave?" Jason asked, leaning against his bike with one hip.

"Pshaw. Batcave? Please. Bruce Wayne wishes his creepy little man cave was half as cool as this." Sam snorted with a shake of her head.

"We can call it the Ghostcave! Or the Ghost Nest? Haunted House?" Danny tilted his head with an excited grin. None of them had wanted to name their new secret base without Jason.

"We'll work on what to call it, King of Dumbass Names." Jason tugged playfully on Danny's hand as Danny's cheeks puffed out in anger.

"Anyway, we have everything you could need to be a hero, or crime boss, or supervillain. The outside looks like an abandoned apartment building but we gutted the insides." Danny explained, bouncing in the air excitedly.

"There's so many levels! Below us is one of the workshops, then a lab. Above us is another workshop then Tucker's command center slash Ops room. It definitely looks like a Best Buy threw up in there. Then a med bay- Jazz made us add one," Danny rolled his eyes but kept talking, not even taking a breath in.

Jason was watching with an impressed expression. Though if that was because of what they'd built, or because Danny could talk so fast and so much without air was anyone's guess.

"And then we have the training room! It's huge! Big enough for us to go all out. And! And! The entire base is surrounded by cement and titanium walls, ten feet thick around the lab 'cause I wanna make a Ghost portal down there. And between those and the walls we see is five feet of my ghost ice!" Happy trills and chirps were making their way between Danny's words, and the almost unconscious chirps Jason responded with had a distinctly amused flavor to them.

Defenses had been his first thought when it came to Gotham. The frequency of rogue attacks meant anything not kitted out to the nines would inevitably be destroyed.

Someone could drop a missile on their roof and surround the building with bombs in the middle of an earthquake and their drinks wouldn't even slosh. Danny hadn't expected his Obsession to translate into building the most secure building this side of the veil but death was full of surprises. He had precious people staying in this building, and he didn't want to see a single one of them hurt.

"You expecting us to get nuked or some shit?" Jason asked with an amused twist to his lips.

"Dude. It's Gotham." Tucker chimed in.

"Nuff said." Jason shrugged, but he looked impressed and Danny's core purred.

The only thing stopping Danny from floating straight through the ceiling was Jason's hold on his hand, but Danny was vibrating so hard in excitement even Jason's arm was shaking.

"Then we have the ground floor. It has a huge kitchen Jay, everything you wanted in one! And three ovens! Three!" Danny could feel a grin splitting his face as Jason, Sam and Tucker watched him word vomit, barely contained laughter puffing out their cheeks.

"It's got the living room, and the dining room and Sam wanted a theater so we have that too!" Danny bounced up and down in the air while Jason turned to look at Sam, an eyebrow raised.

"A theater? Really? What kind of rich people shit is this?" Jason asked, Sam huffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

"Look me in the eyes, Jason, and tell me Nightmare on Elm Street isn't better on a wall sized screen. I dare you, bird boy." Sam challenged. Jason held up his free hand in surrender, wisely choosing not to argue with Sam.

"And then we h-" Danny started when Sam waved a hand at him.

"Let's show him, D." Sam stopped him from giving away the best part.

Danny brightened, tugging at Jason again, directing them towards the elevator.

"What am I? A fucking dog?" Jason grumbled as Danny dragged him away from the love of his life, his Ancient's damned motorcycle, and to the elevator.

"You look like a bitch, so yeah." Danny taunted over his shoulder as they reached the doors.

"Bark bark, motherfucker." Jason snapped his teeth, inhuman fangs on display as Danny laughed. Sam rolled her eyes, slamming a hand on the scanner by the elevator.

"Welcome home, Sam." A robotic feminine voice called out, Jason jumped in surprise as the elevator doors opened.

"Ahhh, Ophelia, my love." Tucker gazed at the touch screen panel inside the elevator like a lovesick puppy.

"Ophelia?" Jason leaned towards Danny, whispering.

"Tucker and Technus made her. She's a program but she's more than slightly ghostly." Danny shrugged.

Ophelia was Tucker's magnum opus, and Danny was fairly certain he was trying to figure out how to actually marry her.

"Ah. Make sense. Totally not having Terminator flashbacks or anything. Skynet, anyone?" Jason nodded, shooting a suspicious look at the panel as Tucker pressed something, and they started to descend.

"Ophelia would never betray me!" Tucker shouted, stroking a hand against the side of the panel.

"See that? Thats what you look like with your bikes and guns." Danny pointed out and Jason gave him a disbelieving stare.

"Boys, boys. You're all pretty. Let's get on with the tour." Sam broke in, quieting the bickering.

Danny wanted Jason to see everything so the elevator took them down first, to the lab and the second workshop. Jason had to be pulled back from leaving the elevator to 'look around' which really meant, get distracted by a project and lose a week of time.

It wasn't until they hit the second workshop that Jason spoke up again, eyes lighting up in recognition.

"Did you transport everything from the castle?" Jason asked, pouting slightly at being held back once more from entering a workshop. Danny understood, he wanted to go in too. But they had a base to explore!

"Everything but the delicate and volatile projects." Danny nodded, kicking a foot in the air nervously.

"I- We wanted it to feel like home." Danny said softly, glancing at Jason, whose face had taken on a soft, warm expression that was gone in a blink.

The next time the door opened, it was into a room practically overflowing with technology. Walls were covered in screens, and there were keyboards across multiple surfaces. Server towers and computer towers stood like little soldier awaiting battle.

"This is the command center. AKA Tucker's cave." Danny nodded at the room, Sam was holding Tucker back with both arms as he sobbed, trying to get to his 'babies'.

The elevator closed and they rose to the next level, opening out into a large room full of sparkling, brand new medical equipment. Much of it transported right from the Far Frozen.

"Med-bay, Jazz insisted we have one. Said first aid kits from Walmart 'weren't enough'. Frostbite helped design it." Danny explained the next room.

"Maybe if you didn't have the dodging abilities of a dead fucking squirrel we wouldn't need it." Jason poked at Danny's chest with a shit-eating grin.

"Well maybe if someone stopped running head first into every fight and tanking hits Jazz wouldn't worry!" Danny retorted, swatting at Jason's hand.

"Next is the giant training room, so if you two want to fight take it in there." Sam took over, talking loudly over the bickering halfas.

"See, Jay, you're missing the tour, you little shit!" Danny hissed, floating as far away as he could, still connected to Jason by their hands.

You'd need to cut Danny's arm off before he'd willingly let go.

"Little? What about me is little you blind undead bastard?" Jason asked, tugging at Danny's hand to get him back in range for more rough housing.

"Boys. Stop flirting." Sam ordered and that froze the two halfas. Their hands separated, Danny and Jason flinging themselves to seperate parts of the elevator.

"We're not flirting!"

"I wasn't flirting!"

Jason and Danny spoke at the same time, voices loud to cover the twin blushes on their cheeks. Sam snorted, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as the doors opened on the next level.

Jason craned his head, trying to see the kitchen from the elevator but it was currently out of view. For the best, Danny didn't know if he'd be able to stop Jason from convincing them to take a snack break if he saw the state of the art kitchen.

Danny was fully vibrating, floating so high his head banged against the roof of the elevator as it rose again. Jason was watching with amused curiosity, Sam and Tucker were watching Jason excitedly. Danny saw Tucker pull out a smartphone to get a picture of Jason's face at their next stop.

The doors opened to a level filled floor to ceiling with books as far as the eye could see. Cozy chairs and couches were thrown around the room and there were a few hard to see, hidden reading nooks too.

"Ghost Writer helped me fill it with all your favorites, and every book we thought you might like. There's first editions, and unpublished books too." Danny said quietly, hands twisting nervously in his shirt.

Jason was looking at the room as if he'd seen heaven. Then again, he had that look anytime he saw a library. But every time Danny saw it, his heart skipped a beat as the butterflies revolted in his stomach.

"Do you...do you like it?" Danny asked hesitantly, Jason ripped his gaze from the books to look at Danny.

And. Oh. Jason was looking at him like he'd hung the moon.

"It's amazing, Danny, it's perfect." Jason's voice was soft, reverent as if they were in a holy place.

Danny felt his core send a pulse of cold through his body as it purred strong enough he feared he'd start vibrating again. Small trills and chirps filled the air between them. And a soft, barely there emotion floated off of Jason.

Loved/Special/Important

It was gone before Danny could fully understand them, or who they were directed at.

"Before you two start doing something disgusting like confess your undying love we have two more levels and surprises waiting." Sam burst in, literally stepping between them and waving her arms as if she could dispell the sappy feelings in the air.

"Next up is the gaming level and then the bedrooms." Sam closed the doors, Jason letting out a pitiful, hurt whine when his books were hidden from him.

They quickly ascended and showed Jason the last two levels. He was obviously curious, but they all knew he was going to head for the library the second they took their eyes off of him. Sam stopped that by grabbing Jason with one hand and Tucker, who was trying to hide so he could get to his personal heaven, with the other and marched them out into the hallway between rooms.

Jason stopped fighting when he took in the name plates on the doors.

"Sam? Tucker? Jazz?" Jason read out, confusion clear as he looked around.

"Surprise! Me and Sam transferred to Gotham U! We managed to convince-" Tucker started while Sam snorted.

"Bribe." She interjected.

"Our professors to let us take our exams early. So we got out early! Starting in the fall we'll be at Gotham U!" Tucker continued as if Sam hadn't spoken. Danny did jazz hands behind them, shooting off tiny ecto-blasts like fireworks.

"And Jazz just got a job at Arkham. She starts in two weeks and will be here next week to move in." Danny explained. Jason stared at them all, eyes wide, disbelieving.

"We're all going to be staying here." Danny assured him.

Home?/Family?/Together?/Home?/Real? Flooded from Jason in waves. Danny let his smile go gentle as he stepped towards Jason.

"We couldn't let you face Gotham alone. You two idiots would blow the city up." Sam teased.

"I wanted to be close to Wayne Industries! They have the best tech! And they commonly hire Gotham U students as interns!" Tucker had stars in his eyes as he talked. He coughed when Sam elbowed him roughly.

"But mostly because you two need a man in the chair if you're going to be hitting the streets as heroes again." Tucker added, his words too coated in sincerity to be anything less than the truth.

"You're all moving here? For... for me?" Jason asked, voice rough with emotions and eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Of course. You're our family Jay, we'd follow you to hell and back." Sam snorted as if it was obvious.

"We did in fact do that when Johnny dared Jason to fist fight a demon." Danny chimed in with a grin.

Jason snorted out a wet chuckle and Danny couldn't help himself. He collided with the other halfa, arms wrapping around him in a tight hug. Seconds later Sam and Tucker joined in until Jason was in the center of the group hug. Jason finally gave up fighting the tears and they rolled down his face.

"Thank you." Jason choked out.

"Anything for you Jaybird." Danny gripped him tighter.

Someone's balance went out and the four of them collapsed on the ground in a pile of limbs and surprised laughter.

"So who's up for a bit of harmless haunting?" Danny asked when the four of them had settled down, and Tucker removed his elbow from Danny's solar plexus.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but that sounds tempting enough that I'll skip the library." Jason replied, shifting slightly. He was big enough that Danny, Sam and Tucker could all, mostly, fit on top of him. He was surprisingly comfortable too.

Hell. He knew Jason seeing Batman, Bruce Wayne, again wouldn't be easy. The one month vanishing act Jason did after he found out about his replacement Robin almost two years ago was enough of a warning. The path of destruction Jason had carved through, thankfully a rebelling Realm, had shown Danny how deep the knife of betrayal had cut.

Unsure/Scared/Upset/Angry/Hurt/TheyForgotMe/HeReplacedMe/NotEnough leaked from Jason in a harsh wave that crashed into Danny. Danny sucked in a sharp breath, he'd known returning to Gotham wouldn't be easy.

Time didn't heal every wound. And wounds to the heart were the slowest of all to heal. No matter how much love Jason had in his life, how many people he had who adored him. Nothing would ever take away the hurt of his dad, his hero, his idol, replacing him barely seven months after he died.

Danny was just thankful Jason's anger was solely directed at Batman, and not the little Robin who had taken up the mantle. Then again, Jason always had a soft spot for kids. And this Robin was tiny, small enough that Danny had thought he couldn't have been older than ten when he first became a vigilante.

Danny rather liked the little Robin, and would've hated for Jason to hold a grudge against him. However Jason had done the opposite, becoming strangely protective of the kid he'd never even met. Danny had barely talked him out of kidnapping the kid years ago, reminding him it might lead Batman right to them.

Actually. It'd been Jazz who talked them both out of it because Danny was as ready as Jason to snatch the newest Robin. To protect him from the rancid streets of Gotham that would gladly chew him up and spit him back out.

Dick was always a safe bet with Jason. And Danny knew he'd want to see his older brother again.

"How about we see what Nightwing is up to tonight? We have a few hours before the vigilantes come out to play, you can spend that time in the library." Danny spoke up, pushing a wave of Comfort/You'reSafe/Protected/Loved/Wanted/Cherished/Important/Irreplaceable at Jason that had the other halfa melting under him.

"There's one other thing I want-have to do before we give Big Bird a heart attack." Jason's voice was suspiciously rough as he spoke, but he was speaking, and that meant he wasn't drowning under a sea of pain.

"And what's that?" Danny lifted his head, meeting Jason's eyes. They crinkled around the edges, a weak smirk on his lips at some unknown joke.

👻🖤🩶💚🖤🩶💚🖤🩶💚👻

"I think it's time for a field trip to a florist."

Tag list

@fisticuffsatapplebees @alinmenttreasure @angelheartgamer @chrysanthemum9484 @catmaraudersfan @insert-penname-here @barbnacle @kitty-page @quirky-gardener @onyxlightdragon @phoenixdemonqueen @wisteriavines @itsparadoxlacuna @mousetrappa @toodaloo-kangaroo @akikoyuii @ghostdragonace @auroraphantasma @quietlyscared @bun-fish @scaehime @shadowkyne @i-like-to-share-things @cheesymarmite @tei-pirate @warriorofbooks @dragongoblet @tired-yet-awaken @shower-man @starlight-sparks @mustachebatschaos @lady-jeleania @09shell-sea09 @larks-and-katydids @firegirl108 @fire-glass @dragongoblet @imchildish8775 @chaoticchange @errorchildsc @24-7shipping @theonewiththegays @imforeveranoob @ghospectr @ori-has-joined @samgirl98 @zalladane @moonfirearc @trickerdi @rosecinnamonbun

The King and his Red Knight

DPxDC crossover fic

Part 1

Really sorry to everyone who suffered through the fact that I didn't know about the existence of readmore. I can't fix the thread now but the individual posts are better? Sorry I have like a very rough idea of how this site works 😭

Check the: The King and his Red Knight tag to find all the parts

"Go here, Danny. Go then, Danny. Go to a random cemetery in the middle of the night for no reason, Danny." A voice grumbled, accompanied by the sound of sneakers rhythmically tapping stone.

Danny Fenton, currently Phantom, sat on a gravestone, his white hair a beacon in the dark night. There were no stars in the sky for him to gaze upon, their light hidden behind swaths of smog and neon lights playing off the gray clouds.

Clockwork had dumped him here, with no explanation for why. Not that he ever really explained much when he sent Danny off on his tasks. He supposed he should be grateful, at least he was in the same when rather than being transported a thousand years into the past.

"Wait here King Phantom. You will understand in time." Danny mimicked his mentor's voice as he let himself float off the grave he'd been dumped on after Clockwork shoved him out of a portal. His body floated higher until he could flip around, his legs crossing. He sat upside down, his chin in his palm as he glared petulantly at the assembled gravestones surrounding him, his toxic green eyes glowing.

"So far all I've seen is a concerning amount of ecotplasm for a city without a ghost portal and some blob ghosts! How long am I supposed to wait here?" Danny asked the air, and the aforementioned blob ghosts who were hanging off his body, soaking in the ambient ecotoplasm he radiated at all times now.

Neither provided him with an answer to his question and Danny let out a frustrated groan as he lowered his still flipped body to look once more on the gravestone he'd been tasked with waiting on.

Jason Todd, the name read. The dates, too close together, made something in Danny squeeze painfully. He'd been young, barely older than Danny when he stepped into the portal. Only for this teenager there had been no ectoplasm to bind to his dying body and repair the damage of death and force him back into a semblance of life.

"Who were you and why did Clockwork send me to you?" Danny asked the gravestone, one clawed finger tracing the words before he pulled back with a sigh when the gravestone gave him no explanation. The dead didn't always speak, not even to their king.

Turning his body Danny looked over the rest of the cemetery. It was empty, as most usually were this time of night, of the living. There were a few shades wandering around, circling closer to him, drawn by his presence. No full ghosts though, but oddly enough there rarely were in cemeteries. This was where the dead came to rest. To remember, if they wanted to. Cemeteries were sacred spaces to the dead, much as a temple or a church would be for the living who were religious. Ghosts who still clung to life, to their obsessions, did not frequent cemeteries, did not dare trespass and disturb those who had already found their peace.

Danny himself was an oddity. He had never shied from cemeteries, enjoying the peace he found in them, the guarantee of safety offered. And perhaps, he mourned that he himself would never have a gravestone for the living to place their flowers and their tears at. Who would make a grave for someone who was both alive and dead? There would never be a body to bury for him. His human half would continue to live on so long as his ghost core remained and could fuel it.

Maybe that was why he found peace in cemeteries, for all his whining that Clockwork had dumped him here. Cemeteries were for the living and the dead, one of the only places both existed in harmony naturally. For someone who was as much dead as he was alive such a place held a certain degree of belonging for him.

Danny straightened out in the air, letting his body lie above the grave as he folded his arms behind his head and looked up at the covered sky. He complained and whined about this task, but he was secretly glad that Clockwork had given him something to do. Even if it was just 'hang out in a random cemetary'.

Ever since he'd graduated high-school, revealed himself to his parents and discovered how deep prejudice and hate could run, and he'd run away to the Infinite Realms for sanctuary while his friends moved forward with their lives, he'd felt unmoored. A ghost with no haunt. Bored was too light a word for the gaping emptiness he felt in his chest, for the loneliness clawing at him. Clockwork, Wulf, Pandora they could help chip at the ache inside of him but not banish it. Not now that his family, his friends, were spread so far apart and so distant from him.

Not that he resented their choices, their distance, in fact he'd fought for them to do just that, to get out of Amity Park, to go to college, to become more than overworked teen superheroes. Still he missed them, even if he could visit them whenever he wanted. It was becoming clear as time moved forward that the world they belonged to and the one he did were two different things.

Danny Fenton couldn't go to college when his parents had declared him dead. Danny Fenton didn't exist as far as the government was concerned. Danny Phantom couldn't return to Amity when those same parents were waiting to capture him and tear him apart 'molecule by molecule'. Danny Phantom couldn't go back when the GIW were crawling over the town like ants.

So neither Danny Fenton or Danny Phantom returned to Amity after that day. And he made sure they couldnt follow him when he ensured the portal that took his life to function never opened again. He didn't need the portal any longer to get in and out of the Infinite Realms, and it was safer for the ghosts, his subjects, if the temptation of the Fenton portal was gone.

The world of the living was not yet ready to accept that the dead didn't always stay dead. And Danny would keep his people safe until they were.

Danny jolted from his lazing state of reverie when a pulse of emotion rocked through him, the strength of it stealing his breath if he had any to take.

Fear/Trapped/Dark/Fear/Help/HELP pounded into him and Danny frantically flipped around, head swiveling, poisonous green eyes wide as he triedf to locate the source. The emotions, the plea for help, burned his core, his Obsession screamed at him.

Help/SomeonePlease/Dark/Trapped/CANTBREATHE/HELP another wave of messages, of emotions pushed themselves at Danny and this time underneath the onslaught he could hear a rhythmic thudding. Danny looked down, horror filling him when he realized the thudding was coming from under the ground. From the grave he'd been hovering over for an hour now.

Danny flew down, sending back a wave of I'mHere/HelpIsComing/I'mComing to the boy trapped in his own coffin, feeling the intense wave of relief and hope sent back before he dived into the earth as if it wasn't there. Danny paused for a moment when he passed the thick wooden coffin, seeing a boy in the dark with wide, panicked blue eyes and fingers tipped with shredded nails and fresh blood.

"Hey, I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" Danny told the boy, keeping his voice gentle, soft. The boy jolted, fixating on the only source of light, Danny's growing green eyes. Danny hoped his smile came off as calming instead of 'freaky AF' as Tucker liked to call it. He grabbed the boy, Jason, as carefully as he could and then let his intangibility wash over the terrified teen as he lifted them both out of the coffin.

When they emerged from the coffin and the ground Danny set the teen down, leaning him against the gravestone, his own gravestone, and pulled back a bit. The boy was gasping in air as if the fetid, polluted air was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted.

Danny tilted his head as he watched the boy ground himself. Now that the emotions were leveling out and his Obsession was purring in contentment rather than growling in a frenzy, Danny could feel something off about the boy.

Disregarding the fact that he'd just come back from the dead, of course. But that wasn't the oddest thing Danny had seen in his afterlife. No the boy felt... not like a normal, living human. Not even like an Amity Park resident, who all felt more than slightly liminal. No this boy, this Jason Todd, felt closer to liminal than even Jazz, Tucker or Sam, who were three of the most liminal humans Danny had ever been around.

Jason felt almost...like a ghost. But not. Danny could feel the tickle in his throat that proceeded his ghost sense but the tell-tale mist never emerged. It was as if Jason was...like him. But Danny couldn't sense a core either. Even halfas had cores.

"Who are you?" Jason spoke, breaking Danny from his thoughts and examination. Jason was looking at him with a mix of gratitude and suspicion. Which, fair. Danny had just pulled him from his own coffin and there were so many questions that could stem from all of this, disregarding all the weirdness that was just Danny himself.

"I'm Danny, Danny Phantom. Or just Phantom. I go by either. And you're Jason, right?" Danny asked, smiling at the teen and oops, yeah that was definitely his scary smile based on the slight flinch there. It wasn't his fault his teeth were too sharp now and his lips split a bit too wide.

"How did you know that?" Jason asked, blue eyes narrowing. Danny nodded at the gravestone the boy was leaning against with a raised brow. Jason turned and almost toppled over from the movement. Danny frowned as the boy caught himself on his gravestone. His skin was still pale, too pale, and as Danny watched Jason swayed again.

"Shit. You're fading. You didn't form a core and your body isn't stabilizing." Danny cursed, moving towards the boy who scrambled back, only to be stopped by his grave.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jason asked, hands fisting as he tried to rise only to fall back to the ground when his legs refused to hold his weight.

"Saving your life. The dead aren't supposed to come back. There's always a price to pay, a balance that is struck. Currently, as you are, if I don't get enough ectoplasm in you to form your core, you'll fade and turn into a brain-dead husk." Danny told Jason, tone stern and no nonsense as he grabbed him. Jason made an effort to break free, but it was weak, and even at full strength, he wouldn’t have been able to break Danny's hold. Few in this realm could.

If they had the time, Danny would've approached this situation in a far different manner, but this close he could hear Jason's heartbeat, a weak flutter in his chest, skipping beats as it tried to fuel a body that was past saving. Jason didn't have the time for Danny to approach this gently and kindly, to coax trust out of the teen like he would a feral cat.

Jason had minutes left before his ectoplasm starved body consumed itself trying to make a core and failed because while wherever they were had more ambient ectoplasm than most places, it was far from enough to sustain the birth of a halfa. Maybe if Jason had stayed dead for another year, he'd have naturally formed a core and risen as a proper ghost. But that wasn't what happened, somehow he'd gathered enough to fix his body of whatever wounds or illness had put him in that coffin to begin with and come back to 'life' but without a core to sustain his body he'd be dead, again, in minutes. And Danny was not about to watch while a teenager, another teenager, died.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Jason hissed as Danny pushed his arms down and laid his clawed hands on Jason's chest.

"You don't. But you don't have another choice." Danny said with a shrug. "Now are you going to let me save your life or not?" Danny asked, not moving his hands. He'd save Jason either way but this would be easier if Jason worked with him.

"Fine." Jason spat and Danny smirked as his hands began to glow a toxic green that matched his eyes.

Ectoplasm pooled out of his hands and rushed into Jason, filling him until the boy glowed bright enough to rival the neon lights of the city around them. The green light flared around him like an aura, slowly shrinking but getting impossibly brighter as the glow centralized around his chest until a small glowing ball of green, like a trapped star, blazed from his chest.

Jason gasped, back arching as Danny pulled his hands away and the light vanished under Jason's skin. For a moment Jason's blue eyes burned green and his hair flashed snow white before returning to black, with one single lock of unearthly white left above his forehead. Jason collapsed back against his grave, chest heaving. Danny watched, eyes full of a sad understanding.

"What the fuck was that?" Jason panted out.

"Welcome to the world of the half alive, half dead." Danny said with a smile. "Want to get a burger and talk about it?" He asked, standing up and dusting off his hands.

"Make it a chili dog and you've got a deal."

~~~~~

Fixed some typos added some lines

Maybe I'll continue this AU. Maybe not. This scene was in my head for days and I wanted to share

[its-time-to-write]

how about a Jamie x reader fic when they go away to Amsterdam they sit together on bus and they wake up cuddling and then there’s an issue w hotel booking and there’s a one bed trope and they end up waking up cuddled together and then they admit feelings and reader goes to game with a tartt jersey on <3

I’ve been thinking about this forever, and I’m terribly sorry it took so long!! I do enjoy being an adult, but I’m at a point in life where I don’t have much free time and if I do, I use it to sleep😂

I really miss the days when Ted Lasso was still airing and the x reader tags had new content every day. I feel like that one meme of Thanos when he’s like “Fine. I’ll do it myself.” Shoutout to all y’all who are still here and reading my stuff! Love you!!

smile at me

It’s straight-up fucked. It really, really is. But also maybe it’s good, as Keeley pointed out, because not having a boyfriend anymore means you can focus on yourself?

Or something. 

Of course he had to break up with you right before leaving for Amsterdam. Hell, he broke up with you because you were leaving for Amsterdam. 

“I don’t want you going to another country with a bunch of other guys,” he had said. “It’s them or me.”

“It’s literally my job,” you told him. 

Apparently, that didn’t matter. 

But what-fucking-ever, you’re at Keeley’s waiting for a car to take you to the airport, and she’s promised to make sure you don’t think about your stupid ex even once. 

It’s times like these you wish Ted were still here with a spot-on pun and some dad-type advice. All you ever get from Beard is a weird anecdote and a vaguely threatening look. 

Keeley chatters on for the entirety of the ride to the airport, through customs, and all the way to the lounge. 

“You’re gonna get loads of great content for the socials, babe. Candids, action shots, behind-the-scenes. Friendlies are fucking amazing!”

Last time Richmond were in Amsterdam, they had lost horribly. They’re hoping to make up for it this time around. 

The plane is full of Greyhounds, both footballers and coaches alike, with Rebecca at the very front. Keeley plops done in the seat next to her as Dani waves at you from the middle. 

“I saved you a seat!” he calls. You smile as Sam takes your bag to put it in the overhead. “Thanks, Dani. You excited?”

Dani grins. “I think this time I am ready to see a whole field of tulips!”

You laugh as the lads roll their eyes. Jamie leans across the aisle toward you and says, “Oi, what’s the twat doing while you’re away?” 

You press your lips into a thin line. “Not a clue.”

He raises an eyebrow and says, “You break up with him?”

“He broke up with me.”

Jamie twists his face into a scoff. “And you wonder why I call him the fucking twat. Prick. Bet it was so he could finally fuck his coworker.”

You shrug. Jamie’s never liked your boyfriend. It’s not like you were together long, only a few months. And sure, he was a little bit of a twat, but sue you. You had a special place in your heart for pricks with a heart of gold, only he didn’t even have a heart at all. 

“You should date someone better,” Jamie continues. 

You glare at him and retort, “Oh yeah, because it’s just that easy. You got some one in mind?”

Jamie gives you his most angelic look and says, “What about me?” which makes half the plane dissolve into laughter, yourself included. 

“Cheers, Jamie,” you say as you wipe your eyes. “I needed that.”

A strange look crosses his face, but it’s quickly replaced by his usual cocky expression. “Anytime, love,” he replies as you turn to start a conversation with Dani. 

As much as you’d like that, Jamie would never date you. His joke stings a little but you brush it off. Maybe you’ll find another twat in Amsterdam to distract yourself from the fact that you’re half in love with Jamie Tartt.

—

“I’m sorry, we don’t have a booking under you name,” the hotel concierge says.

You tap your nails to your wrist. “Are you positive? I’m with AFC Richmond, they should’ve had one.”

The concierge taps on his computer for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I’m afraid we don’t have anything. And all of our rooms are booked this weekend. Might I recommend the hotel down the road?”

Damn it. There’s no way this is happening. Everyone else has gotten to their rooms without a hitch and here you are, alone in the lobby as you pull out your phone to call Keeley. There’s no way this is fucking happening. 

“Everything alright?” asks a voice behind you, and you jump. 

“They don’t have a room for me, and they’re fully booked,” you explain. 

Jamie looks at the concierge, who shrugs apologetically, then back to you. He asks, “Why don’t you share with me?” and you frown. 

“I thought you were rooming with Declan,” you say. 

Jamie lifts a shoulder. “Yeah, but he switched with Richard because O’Brien fucking snores and he don’t give a shit.”

You say, “So you’re with Richard, then,” and he shakes his head. 

“Nah, Richard’s with Jan.”

“I thought Dani was with Jan,” you say. These fucking footballers. What’s the point in having set rooms if they’re just going to switch it all up.

“Dani is with Jan,” Jamie says patiently, as if this all the most obvious thing in the world. “But Dani’s a cuddler, so he’s probably going to fucking end up with, I don’t know, Isaac or someone. Which means I get a room all to meself.”

“Right,” you say slowly. “Alright, I can do that. As long as you don’t mind.”

Jamie winks. “Sharing a room with a pretty girl for four days? Ain’t a problem, love.”

You laugh and follow him to the elevator.

—

It feels a bit like playing with fire, agreeing to room with Jamie. Especially since you’re freshly single and definitely open to a rebound. But there will be two beds and a lot of space and anyway, you’ll be busy with the match and social media, respectively. 

Except as soon as you walk through the door, you realize there’s a tiny little hitch.

“There’s one bed,” you blurt out, so surprised you’re unable to filter your words. Jamie blushes a little bit as he says, “Yeah, um, Cockburn and I hate sleeping alone, so we asked for one. He grew up sharing a bed with his brothers and I just fucking hate being alone. I can sleep on the couch if you want.”

“No,” you say firmly, “you need good rest. It’s not a problem.”

It’s not a problem. 

Or at least it wouldn’t have been if Isaac had been a shittier captain. 

But as it is he’s great, so he’s got the whole team going out to dinner at a pre-determined location complete with a dress code of no t-shirts and apparently you count as part of the team, so you have to go too. You’re in your massive bathroom trying to curl your disgusting travel hair when Jamie walks in wearing one of those white hotel bathrobes.

He asks, “You mind if I’m in here?” so you shake your head, struck temporarily mute by his bare clavicle. Fucking hell, you feel like a repressed Victorian woman. 

Jamie says, “Mint,” and goes about his alarmingly detailed skincare routine. You’re pretty sure you’re done with your hair so you crane your neck in an attempt to check the back. 

“Missed a spot,” Jamie says. “Want me to get it for you?”

You shoot him a dubious look but hand him the curler. He runs a hand through your hair, picking up the offending strand and it’s all you can do not to shiver. 

“Mum taught me,” he explains and you nod ever so slightly, not wanting him to accidentally burn your neck. Jamie says, “All good,” and runs his whole hand through your hair this time, making the curls bounce. 

You choke out, “Thanks,” and hurriedly put away your things, desperate to leave before Jamie can pick up on the fact that you can barely handle being in the same room as him, and that you have great concerns about what the night will bring. 

—

“You look fucking hot,” is the first thing Rebecca says when you meet her in the lobby. Keeley looks mildly offended that Rebecca took the words out of her mouth, but she just laughs and taps your arm. 

“Gonna break a few hearts tonight, yeah?” she grins.

You’re not sure about that, especially since dinner turns out to be a very domestic affair. It’s loud, sure, but it’s definitely toned down since it’s a pre-match celebration instead of a post-match one. You’re with Sam, Keeley, and Roy with Jamie far, far away. You push all thoughts of him from your brain only for memories of your ex to surface. You frown. 

“The fuck’s wrong with you?” Roy says and for a moment, you think he’s talking to you. But he’s actually talking to Jamie who has moved from his place across the restaurant to right behind your chair. 

“Fuck off grandad,” Jamie says good-naturedly. “Wanted to tell this one that some of the lads are going out dancing after this. Not too late,” he hastily adds at Roy’s burning scowl, “just for two hours and we’re only allowed one drink.”

You’re pretty sure that’s a bit more liberal than Roy likes, but he nods his head slightly so he must be in a good mood.

“So, you coming?” Jamie asks and before you can reply Sam and Keeley chorus, “Yes she is.”

You give Keeley a Look before turning back to Jamie. “Guess I am,” you reply.

The smile Jamie gives you does more to make your head spin than any amount of alcohol you’ve had in your lifetime.

—

Jamie has taken it upon himself to wipe that frown off your face. He might have been watching you over dinner and that might have been why he chose that exact moment to invite you out, but he’ll never fucking admit it to anyone except Sam. And Keeley. And maybe Cockburn when it was the off-season and they were a little tipsy. (But not drunk, never drunk.) 

So yeah, sue him if he’s spinning you around on the crowded dance floor just because it makes you laugh. It’s not his fault that he’s been wildly in love with you since the day Higgins hired you. It’s not his fault that you’re easy to be around and have the most beautiful smile he’s seen in his life. 

And fuck, it certainly isn’t his fault you can’t see in yourself what others do. Why you settled for a piece of shit like your ex, he’ll never know. But he’ll be damned if he doesn’t do his best to show you how special you are. He knows you’ll never feel the same about him, but maybe he can help you level up your standards. Maybe if you’re with someone good, it’ll hurt less that it’s not him. 

So he lets you hold his hand for the entirety of the two hours that the team is out and doesn’t say a word when you don’t let go in the cab back to the hotel. 

You’ve gotten that closed-off look in your eyes again, the one that means you’re thinking about your ex, so Jamie knocks his shoulder into yours and asks why he can’t have the password to the team’s Instagram account, which is a sure fire way to get you to lecture him on irresponsibility and aesthetics and the best way to get your eyes to come back to life.

—

Honestly, it’s easier to fall asleep than you might have expected. It’s a big bed and you’re fucking tired. 

You just didn’t expect to wake up in the middle of the night crying, but it’s always fucking like this when you go through a breakup. You go to sleep fine and wake up sad, so you do your best not to wake up Jamie except you’ve both ended up entangled in each other’s arms, so he can feel you shaking. 

“Hey,” Jamie says in a soft voice, “You’re okay, love.”

You half expect him to push you away once he realizes you’re so close, but he only pulls you closer and presses a kiss to your forehead. Maybe it’s because you’re both half-asleep, but it feels like the most natural thing in the world. 

You sigh and settle into him, drifting off in a matter of moments. 

—

You wake up to a pair of blue eyes watching you. 

“How you feeling?” Jamie asks, voice gravelly with sleep. 

You just blink at him. It’s hard to form coherent sentences within the first ten seconds of waking up, and even harder with the memory of Jamie’s arms around you last night. 

Wait. Not just the memory. The present reality because neither of you have moved. 

Jamie misinterprets your silence and begins to extricate his arms.

“Sorry,” he says, “I’m not to trying to like, cross and fucking boundary or something. Should’ve left you alone.”

You’re still not awake enough to talk so you grab him to stop him from moving away. He gives you a questioning look so you say, “I wouldn’t have agreed to share a bed if I thought you were a creep.”

Jamie grins. “So like, if Jan had offered to share a room you’d’ve said no.”

You wrinkle your nose as you say, “Jan’s not a creep.”

“He’s the fucking worst,” Jamie grumbles, “And anyway, can we not talk about Jan fucking Maas this early in the morning?”

“Sure,” you say, “let’s talk about something else.”

Despite your comment, you both lapse into silence. You’re enraptured by Jamie’s blue eyes. You’ve never been able to study them this close before, and you want to take this opportunity to memorize every fleck of green. 

Jamie seems to have a similar thought, except his gaze flicks to your lips. 

“I have morning breath,” you tell him and he says, “Real men don’t give a shit, babe,” before leaning forward.

It’s softer than you’d expected, sweeter. 

It’s also strange to think that you’re making out with Jamie in bed, and that he’s the one who initiated it.

The thought is so absurd that you giggle, mid-kiss. Jamie breaks away and says, “Oi, there’s no way that was a shit kiss.”

“No,” you say between giggles, “it’s just weird that we’re doing this. Like, how are we supposed to look each other in the eye after?”

Jamie moves so he can look at you better, and you roll from your side to your back. “What do you mean?” he asks.

“Oh come on, we share a room and a bed, we kiss because I have all these sad feelings and you’re feeling a lot of emotions about the match, and then we have to work together after. It’s silly.”

Jamie cocks his head. “That’s what you think is happening?”

“Yes?” you say. None of this is going how it’s supposed to. “What do you think is happening?”

“I like you,” he says, and there is absolutely no mistaking his meaning. 

“Oh,” you reply in a small voice. “Since when?”

“Since before you started dating the twat. When Higgins introduced ya to the team.”

“That’s a fucking long time ago!” you exclaim. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

Jamie rubs his face. “Yeah, ‘cept you showed up to work tellin’ everyone how you started dating the twat. And I ain’t a home wrecker.”

You groan. “Fuuuck. I literally only dated him to try to get over you.”

Jamie shoots up. “What?!”

“Yeah,” you say, “I’ve been like a little bit in love with you ever since you winked at me during that first promo I did.”

Jamie blows out a breath. “Okay. Think that’s enough talking. C’mere. We’re making out proper, like, then we’re going to breakfast.”

You grin as you climb onto his lap. 

[tarttygoodness]

This episode means so much. Beyond my VIVID imagination. It was the episode that confirmed - like for real confirmed - that Roy and Jamie are something. Roy was in anguish and didn't know where to put it (I mean personally I'm sure he knew exactly where he wanted to put it... boom). But it wasn't until Jamie expressed how excited he was to spend a wild night in Amsterdam that Roy acted.

Maybe it was a bit of jealousy at the thought of Jamie getting drunk and hooking up with someone. Maybe all their early morning training sessions taught Roy that Jamie was the right kind of person to spend time with when you're emotionally distraught. Maybe he just wanted Jamie all to himself and faked a training session to get him off the bus so he could spend that night with him without all the others.

But Roy and Jamie had some honest moments of connection together. Roy allowed himself to be vulnerable and let Jamie teach him something for once. Jamie became the Dad figure and the Coach and then destroyed all our hearts with that traumatic reveal. These - even the awful things - were beautiful, beautiful moments that - like everybody else's moments - transcended sex. The beautiful moments between Rebecca and her Dutch guy. The connection between Trent and Colin. The team finally having their pillow fight, y'all. Ted, connecting with all the reasons he needed to go home to his son (and accidentally inventing Total Football 45 years after it was first invented).

Don't get me wrong. I love the episodes that show us AFC Richmond on the pitch, doing their thing, and I love the episodes that bring it back to soccer but this episode lives in my heart and it will always be my favourite.

PS - did Dani ever see his tulip?

[roamwithahungryheart]

Before I write anything that's fully coherent, some bullet points on the overarching theme of 3x06 - being seen:

Colin tries to go under the radar, but Trent sees him. Trent sees Colin's struggle and comforts him by relating his own experience. Colin feels seen & takes solace in the fact that someone understands. There's someone he can trust in the Richmond inner circle.

Dani wants to see a tulip, but there were tulips in the hotel lobby (and they likely will have driven past them on the coach). He was too busy being distracted by the match & his obligations to see that the thing he wanted was right there the whole time.

Roy & Keeley seeing each other in a new light. Roy sees Keeley moving on and living her life without him. It forces him to confront his feelings & insecurities. Is this the beginning of their reconciliation?

Ted & Total Football. The solution was already there, he'd just never thought about it before until his trip-that-wasn't-a-trip. 'Triangles, tri-angles, try angles' - he's seeing things from a different angle, in work and potentially in life.

Rebecca & the bike lane. She should have seen the fall coming because the signs were all around her, but she didn't. She's spent the last few episodes obsessing over and looking for signs and now she's missed them and fallen into a new phase of her life.

[bells12]

Dani Rojas wanting to see a single tulip because of a field of them would be too overwhelming speaks to me on so many levels.

[hacash]

I feel like for a relatively little amount of screentime we got some very good himbo snippets. and you could argue that a lot of the little himbo moments were showing us their and got to see a lot of their true essences:

Colin being sweet and daft and sharing insights into his sexuality

Dani being cute about tulips (and wanting to try authentic food while in the Netherlands, good boy)

Isaac getting all Captain and Team Dad **and** showing more of his Renaissance Man status

Richard being Aggressively and Passionately French

Jan being...Dutch

Sam working hard to keep the peace and also not wanting to see a sex show (I don’t want to infantilise Sam but this seems in character)

Jamie acting cocky and a bit of a prick but also supporting Roy and being surprisingly vulnerable

Thierry being a bit of a horndog and also clinging to the Van Damme name like there’s no tomorrow

and then we have Bumbercatch, and if this episode was showing us each of the himbos’ true essences then I have so many more questions about Moe ‘knowledge is power; dig around in the International Court of Justice for secrets; follow the money’ Bumbercatch, who also happens to be a knitting aficionado.

[louis-quatorze]

watching the Amsterdam episode now

ongoing thoughts

- why are they even playing Ajax. what level are Richmond at. when is this. if this is the international break why is Ajax playing. you’d assume Richmond would also have internationals (Sam at least, right?). god the actual football in this show drives me fucking insane. (I know the answer is “Sudekis and Hunt wanted to go back to Amsterdam on Apple’s dime” but still)

- this is exactly how all Dutch sports journalists talk and it is so funny to see non-Dutch people deal with it 

- graag gedaan

- Jamie’s Facts of Amsterdam

- Rebecca the bike lanes are obvious. Get out of the red! (Also most canals in the center don’t even have those)

- you can swim in the canals but I wouldn’t in the city center (out of it, though, or along the Ij is often fine)

- Johan Cruyff is, indeed, that cool. I miss him

- hehehe herring

- it is extremely funny that Jan’s suggestion is going to Groningen which is extremely Groningen of him. but also what is Martin Garrix doing up there

- if it’s Museumnacht and also possible to see the Northern Lights it’s the wrong time of year for a tulip, sorry Dani. they can probably get you one of those wooden ones though.

- seriously though why are you bringing drugs to the Netherlands the best drugs are here and we’re proud of it

- the himbos are the only part of this show that are still a comedy

- the Dutch is funny though (including the not-translated bits) and hearing Jan talk it is also funny

- niet gezellig, hé

- Jamie’s cute in his little Grealish hair

- hey it’s Prik! I have spent a decent amount of time in that bar considering I don’t even live in Amsterdam. it’s a cute bar, good crowd, my friend used to work there. it’s not on the main street of gay bars, which probably makes it less intimidating to Colin. 

- gezellig

- Boat Guy is extremely Dutch (positive)

- oh here’s where they’re using Zij gelooft in mij. It’s cute!

- lmao at Jamie getting some “used bikes” off a junkie on the street. you don’t see that much any more (particularly where they were) but when Hunt and Sudekis used to live there it was pretty common

- everyone’s said this but it is sweet that Colin and Trent’s conversation is at the Homomonument. (also not far from Prik even if you stop for beers.) 

- just realizing that this is a very dry night in Amsterdam, not common

- everyone has such great Facts About Amsterdam. good job being the Amsterdam tourist board, cast of Ted Lasso

- what strings did Ted have to pull to get a Museumnacht ticket at random

- Richard is right, they should not try Dutch food, it’s bad. note Jan was not suggesting it. (seeing them all pile into a FEBO would be funny though)

- extremely sweet that they manage to get a discussion of the word “gezellig” into this. if I didn’t already know that they were fond of the Netherlands, that would do it.

- hey it’s Derek! He has lines! (He’s the waiter Ted takes a pen from.) That’s actually pretty exciting, he wasn’t sure he would actually be in the show, it’s his first TV role

- there are American-themed restaurants here and they are often like that and it’s extremely funny. I’m obsessed with all of them

- Hunt showing off his Dutch. I didn’t realize until this episode that he was here for 10 years, that’s pretty serious

- if Beard had got his drugs in the Netherlands they wouldn’t have been duds you know

- Roy is a lot braver than me, I tried riding on the back of a bike once and it sucked ass

- in the end, this is a pretty sweet tribute to Amsterdam - you can tell that they’re affectionate towards the city and the Dutch and wanted to show that. I’m charmed by how much they clearly just wanted to showcase the city and its charms, and I think they did a good job of it. 

[heyheymarrymearchie]

now that i've had the chance to rewatch sunflowers, here we go:

my s3e6 commentary

(aka my thoughts about the new episode, in chronological order, with no other context)

keeley’s pink fur coat is a MAJOR slay (the whole outfit is, really)

higgins had me SHRIEKING the way he just walks away after saying he's going to the red light district with no explanation

KEELEY! HOT DATE ALERT! I LOVE YOU

live laugh love :) so true sam :)

dani suggesting naps I LOVE HIM

HIGGINS AGAIN

ok but the fact that the intro isn’t until 7 minutes into the episode—

JAMIE’S CARTWHEEL

bald guy kinda hot tbh

DETECTIVE BUMBERCATCH

dani and his tulip!!!!

trent sitting in the fruitiest way possible

him suggesting a museum tour is so me

the little girl’s room is so cute

THE MOOVEH

the whole don’t do drugs speech, immediately cut to beard saying lets do drugs

BUMBERCATCH CHECKING THE VOTES BECAUSE ISAAC CAN’T COUNT

himbo dani writing in spanish

sam being so real

TRENT’S LEOPARD PRINT SHOE CATCHING THE DOOR KILLED ME ON THE SPOT

when bald guy said rebecca was bleeding and then pointed downward, WHY was my first thought that she had gotten her period

i’m truly a sucker for characters that don’t have names

jamie joking about how much of a prick he used to be! growth!

colin being so nervous when he gets there I WANT TO GIVE HIM A HUG

please trent, as much as i love your flair for the dramatic, in what world did it seem like a good idea to sneak up behind colin at a gay bar?? i love you but WHAT

REBECCA WITH HER HAIR DOWN LOOKS SO PRETTY! AND THAT DRESS!

rebecca being so cute

i love that not one but TWO adult characters on the show canonically couldn’t ride a bike

the scene where jamie is teaching roy how to ride a bike might be the greatest thing to ever grace my tv screen, i cannot stop smiling

this higgins/will friendship is so cute

trent gay confirmed had me SCREAMING

trent’s little nose scrunch when they cheers!!!!!! ugh!!!! i love him!!!!

colin’s monologue has me feeling too many emotions

“i don’t want to be a spokesperson” what if i cried and sobbed.

ted looking at the sunflowers, and showing all the van gogh paintings, oh god oh i’m feeling things

THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTINGGGG

my poor jamie i’m so sorry, don’t worry i’ll go beat your dad with a rope at 4 am <3

high but-not-actually-high ted is so funny

BACK TO PRETTY REBECCA WITH HER HAIR DOWN YESSSS she’s gotta wear her hair down more often

gezellig :,)

ted learning about triangles I COULD NOT STOP LAUGHING, IT FELT LIKE A VIDEO I WOULD’VE WATCHED IN MATH CLASS AS A KID (what’s that disney one?)

THE WHOLE MONTAGE WHILE HIGGINS IS PLAYING— i cannot even begin to express how much i love it

trent you can’t dance but it’s ok i love you so much

(and i love seeing him casual and just wearing a t shirt AAAAH)

himbos in crop tops himbos in crop tops himbos in crop tops himbos in-

THE VANILLA VODKA

ew not the foot massage

will talking to his mom on the phone hehehehehe

ROY AND JAMIE ROLLING UP ON THE BIKE TOGETHER AAAAAAHAHAAAAAA

rebecca singing again :,) nature is healing

colin squeezing trent’s shoulder while singing everything is gonna be alright, and then trent’s adorable smile????? i’m crying

all in all, this is definitely my new favorite episode. i laughed, i cried, i saw jamie do a cartwheel. it was perfect. so much love. <3

[50-shades-of-otp]

Ted Lasso s03ep06 was a 5 course meal... we recieved so much and got the appropriate amount of rum time

-Rebecca and the dutch guy were cute (even if it was a one time thing. I don't know if it will develop farther but she seemed having fun with him)

- Ted thinking he was high and getting an epiphany as a coach and the game. I hope Rochmond will start their winning strike. I do want to see how it will affect future interection with Nate.

- Roy's and Jamie's bonding just... fantastic. Their dynamic was top notch.

- The whole Colin and Trent plot? Great writing. I like how Trent became a mentor to Colin, becoming a safe place for him to open up.

- I had no idea I needed the Will and Higgins adventure but I'm glad we recieved it. Higgins doesn't get much screen time or to stand out. Also, I'm so happy for Will for getting that threesome.

- The pillow fight? Great. No complains. Love the team's dynamic and it always a great watch. (Dani, I'll take you on a date to Amstardam and give a bouqeut full of tulips)

The entire episode is *chef's kiss*

[piastrinorris]

call me english-teacher levels of overanalysing characters but i think the tulip joke from this week's ted lasso is more nuanced than people are letting on

bc yeah, dani wants to see a single tulip. and yeah, they're all around him. but those are tulips that have been picked and organised into a specific bunch. not unlike how afc richmond, and other football teams, are formed. he wants to go and see a tulip, meaning one in the outside world

we don't really see much "development" from dani himself, outside of the earl the greyhound, "football is life/football is death" episode. he's a vehicle for others' development, like jamie's, but he's never really had his own Stuff going on. maybe he was homesick, and wondering whether he should go back, and he wanted to see a tulip growing in its native place because he wants it to be a sign that he'd thrive being back home. or maybe he wanted it to be a metaphor for him laying his roots in england, and he wanted to see that something can grow and survive all on its own, even away from the other tulips.

am i overthinking this tiny little joke? almost certainly. do i care? not especially.

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

ted lasso 3.06, tedbecca thoughts--

i can’t believe jamie and roy got ted and rebecca’s amsterdam date night plot!!!!!!! (they were good at it, though.)

also, i’ve never irrationally hated anyone more than that objectively pleasant and hospitable bald dude, lololol. YOU ARE MY ENEMY FOR LIFE, SIR. I’M GONNA TAKE YOU OUT. I KNOW YOU’RE ACTUALLY A MURDERER OF TALL WOMEN AND THOSE CLOTHES WERE INDEED YOUR TROPHIES. I KNOW YOU SLEEP IN THAT PINK UNICORN BEDROOM. (not that there’s anything wrong with that, i guess.) YOU AND ME, WE’VE GOT BEEF. I’M GONNA DESTROYYYYYYYYY YOU! I WILL SINK YOUR BOAT LIKE YOU SUNK MY HEART.

the one thing that gives me the merest fragment of hope is the fact that they had ted wanting to hang out with rebecca and deliberately induced the pang of him trying to reach out to her while her phone was drowned. like people were supposed to be like “oh nooooo, rebecca is out falling for some other dude right now while ted wants to spend time with her!” in an episode that talked a lot about ......... triangles. (and you could possibly read the last scene as the first time ted has perceived rebecca as a sexual being, lol. and the energy of that scene was just a lot of fun in general!)

but i don’t know, mate!!! i feel like we’re on shaky ground. or maybe ... a boat. D:

i know rebecca made it seem like she was never gonna see bald boat guy again, but i’ve never once been that lucky in my television life. why would it start now??? BOAT GUY, YOU ARE MY ENEMY. I’VE NEVER MANAGED TO CLIMB INTO A TV AND DESTROY A FICTIONAL CHARACTER BEFORE, BUT YOU WILL BE THE FIRST. FOR THE CRIME OF BEING THE PERFECT SERENDIPITOUS ROMCOM LOVE INTEREST, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE UPON YE.

(the rest of this episode was really fun! enjoyed it tremendously, especially the colin and trent scenes! and i’m glad rebecca got to have a perfect romcom fling! it just also terrified me to my very core.)

p.s. i hope dani got to see a tulip! 😢

[contactlessdrivethru]

ABSOLUTELY REELING from the jamie backstory drop this episode. here i was caught up in the soft, gentle peace of this episode, enjoying ted’s trip to the museum, enjoying seeing jamie so happy and excited and knowledgeable(!!!!!!) about the city, enjoying dani and his desperate need to see one (1) tulip, and then-

WHAM.

full on punch to the fucking gut. jamie’s father took him to see a sex worker at four-fucking-teen years old. that is so! so! deeply! horribly! fucked up! Jamie Doesn’t Really Remember It. it’s so in-line with what we know about Tartt Sr that, in retrospect, i’m not really all that surprised about it?? but it was still horrible to learn and caught me completely off guard.

already i wanted to see him have a breakdown and cry this season but now i want it even more

[5chatzi]

I HAVE THOUGHTS

Roy and Jamie’s bike date was perfection

Colin l and Trent’s bonding over being gay and going to the club was perfection

The boys having a pillow fight was perfection

Higgins and Will’s jazz adventure was perfection. They really played us making it seem like they were going to the red light district for something else 😂

WTF was Rebecca’s storyline. Did they actually have sex? Or was he just saying that after an intimate night of talking and the foot massage it was like they had sex?? I swear to god if they do a miraculous oopsie pregnancy I’m going to die

Not sure about Ted’s storyline. Hilarious there ended up being no drugs and his hallucination was just from basically the placebo effect 😂

Keeley’s dubbed hotel tv menu 😂

Sweet baby Dani wanting to see a tulip 😭 was secretly hoping the whole team would band together and see tulips

[moon0fairy]

Ted Lasso 3x06 commentary !!!!!

• very sad atmosphere oh boii ok so we‘re already in Amsterdam

• Jan Maas speaking dutch!!

• „this is a pretend conversation. You‘re a pretend person with a pretend job. And I‘m having a really hard time pretending to give a shit.“ and Jan‘s smile hsksks

• NIGHT OUT IN AMSTERDAM

• JACK AND KEELEY FLYING TO NORWAY TO SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS DAMN SAPPHICS REALLY DO MOVE FAST

• uhhh damn Rebecca that was subtle commentary to Roy👀

• „no curfew tonight“ and Beards eyes getting subtly bigger

• Dani I love you

• Roy is in a biig mood

• JAMIE KNOWS HIS HISTORY FACTS (someone has energy)

• not Rebecca going on the bike side of the road (i don‘t know the right term in english)

• well damn ….

• bike lane thank you unknown man

• Ted texting Rebecca but she lost her phone so he spends the whole night with Trent instead-

• „you know I wanna try something new“ like going to a gay bar-

• TRENT CRIMM I SAW YOU

• Trent I would go to every museum with you

• higgins don‘t say that

• Jan suggesting a club with a lot of women and Colins saying immediately afterwards that he can’t make it and Trent looking up (I‘m in pain)

• sipping his tea because he knows the tea👀

• that boat house looks very comfy (funf fact: I actually always dreamt about living on a boat like this)

• ohhhh we‘re getting Ted high??

• Get Dani his tulips🥺🥺🥺

• Colin sneaking out👀

• THE LEOPARD SHOES, Detective Trent mode activated

• He seems nice and I feel like they stray away more and more from Ted and Rebecca idea as a couple

• Ted, if you don‘t want that… I mean I could… I would drink it for you

•. Colin storyline here we go

• Trent showing up behind him I‘m gonna pass out

• nooo Colin🥺🥺🥺

• oop-

• Roy doesn‘t know how to ride a bike either?????

• damn Roy that was a lot opening up

• we really thought we‘re getting a romantic „Ted teaching Trent how to ride a bike“ but we‘re getting Roy and Jamie instead-?

• Trent coming out story I can‘t believe this is actually happening omg

• trying not to tear up challenge failed

• „ I used my Holmesian powers of journalistic deduction“

• Ted going to a Van gogh exhibition oh no more tears incoming (apparently for Ted too)

• oh no they‘re still arguing over food?😭😭

• Isaac is going through it

• Jamie opening up too and Roy apologizing to him

• not the American bar😭 (homesickness? Foreshadowing that he will go to america again in the end?)

• oh no the tea is kicking in

• love the triangle history

• pillow fight in the lobby, Trent and Colin enjoying the gay club, Roy and Jamie seeing a windmill, this is amazing

• That foot massage was uhm, no comment (good for you Rebecca)

• Beard apparently had a good night🥴

• oh so he experienced a placebo effect

• Triangles to try angels jdksks

• Coling touching Trents arm oh they‘re besties now 🥺

10/10 episode no further comment needed