#hope it's okay to post this publicly. if not tell me and i'll delete it asap

[robinsnest2111]

Hi Robin,

I'm late to the party (like always), but let me tell you something: there is nothing wrong with enjoying old movies and TV shows, okay? You didn't do anything wrong by reblogging that fanart. I know the person who drew it, and I can assure you, said person wasn't glorifying anything. The drawing was a gift from one friend to another, both of whom are German. You're allowed to like what you want. You suggested your followers curate their online experience for their mental health; well, that goes for you too. Everyone is entitled to have a safe online experience without being made to feel bad or ashamed about their interests. Seriously, just block anyone who makes you feel bad. It's easy, it's free and most of all, it's beneficial to your mental health.

To anyone reading this message who doesn't know some - or any - of this info: Robert Clary was in several different death camps and survived all of them. Howard Caine was Jewish. Werner Klemperer, Leon Askin and John Banner were all Jewish refugees who fled to America during the war. All of these men except for Mr. Clary served in the U.S Armed Forces fighting against the Nazis. Both Mr. Klemperer and Mr. Banner made their living playing those kinds of roles prior to Hogan's Heroes, a comedy show made here in the US of A. Regarding the character of Klink himself, he's not a true Nazi. It's even stated in the show that he never joined the Party. Mr. Klemperer said here Klink "would have been the same if he had worked for General Motors." Heck, the show (re-titled Ein Käfig voller Helden) has been a cult hit in Germany since the 90s - that wouldn't be the case if it was praising Nazism in any way.

So yeah, nothing about either version of the show or your reblog is glorifying jack squat. If anyone can't accept that, please hit this button. And while you’re at it, block me too.

Listen, Robin. I don't know you, but I can’t stand it when people are bullied...and being made to feel guilty/disgusted/etc is a form of that. It why I didn't send this anonymously. But I wish you all the best, though. I really do. Don't let haters get you down, dude!🫂

thank you for your message and for sharing more info

to be fair, it wasn't bullying, at least it didn't feel like it to me. honest concerns were voiced and some of my issues were triggered (memories of previous bad experiences with fandom witch hunts and the good old German Guilt ™) more heavily than I've ever experienced before.

sorry for the late reply, real life developments have eaten up all my energy the past week.

[callmehopeless]

Hi everyone! I'm still very much alive and doing well. Writing lots, RPing lots, creating things for fandom. I'll tag this post HL, since I think people check the tag more than individual blogs (I know I do).

I'm on several social media platforms, but currently actively using almost none of them, with the exception of Discord.

People have discussed a lot about why the fandom is quiet on social media spaces right now — honestly, when my mental health is good and I'm happy, I don't really have much interest in being on social media platforms. I just want to create for friends, write at my pace, and do my thing.

Tumblr, Twitter and such have this inherent kind of loneliness to them. Every time I get invested in a fandom, I've become more active privately, less so publicly. Using Tumblr and Twitter feels a bit like standing on a stage with a microphone, telling jokes, hoping you'll get the serotonin hit that keeps you feeling creative. And then you create on the back of that, and then you need the next hit to go around again. Youre exposed to the entire gamut of fandom, all the time — you don't really get a break to just create meaningfully. You spend more time curating what people see than what you make. This is probably more about me personally than the social media experience, but Ive always found it a bit daunting.

As I'm growing happier, doing better, and creating more — I'm inversely posting less, and interacting less. This happens often for me: I love creating for people, but I don't need the serotonin hit. I want to create for friends, and build things without persona.

I have an inbox stuffed full with messages asking for updates on fics, how I'm going, those fun chain message things. I'm not-not answering for any reason other than that I'm just out here vibing. I do intend to write more fics, create more things for you, and share more stuff. I just want to do that because I *want to*, and not because I'm on the clout-chase-approval-hamster-wheel I've put myself on. I want to make fandom content because I love it, and not for my dopamine hit I've gotten used to now.

I hope you're all doing great out there! If you want to find me, your best bet is on my Discord, in my pinned post.

This isn't me announcing I'm quitting fandom or deleting Tumblr or any third thing, but just me acknowledging the time you guys are taking to reach out to me, and letting you know I'm okay, I'm happy, I'm building bots to give tacos to RP server members.

I hope you're happy too! You deserve to be happy.

Hoppo xox

[toraawa]

So, I've gotten some messages from people. 8 in total. A DM on Twitter, 3 DMs here on Tumblr, and an ask. All burner accounts/anonymous. Though it's a small fandom, my stuff gets a lot of traction and I tend to respond to all comments I get on Ao3, so I assume that makes people more comfortable about contacting me directly.

They all asked me two things: if I live in America (because I don't talk about my private life publicly at all), and, upon answering in the affirmative, what's going to happen to my fics. "Will you still post fics?" "Will you still draw and write?" "You won't delete your Ao3, will you?"

Do you hear yourselves?

Those are the first questions you ask. Not any sympathy about this election, not any concern about my wellbeing, not any well wishes and hopes that I will be okay. No. Your first concern was about the damn content I provide for you. Because apparently having your fics is more important than our rights being taken away. I know none of you are American; I've gotten a couple DMs from people who are, and they are the exact opposite. I know you've seen the posts. Hundreds have committed suicide already. Lists of what Project 2025 entails are everywhere. People are already losing their jobs because of the new tarriffs policy that isn't even in place yet. The list goes on.

Since you don't give a fuck, I'll tell you now: yes, I am fortunate to live in a blue state, albeit in a red pocket with a shit ton of Trump supporters and a big military/law enforcement population. Add being a woman and black on top of that. But many others in this country aren't so fortunate. Many are trapped in the hells of conservative America.

You don't care to know that, though. Because you would have asked.

I don't want Ao3 to go, either. I love Ao3. But when your first words to me are concerns about the content I make upon finding out I'm American, I don't care if you can't read my fics anymore. I don't want people like you reading what I create out of passion. You don't see the person on the other side; only a machine churning out content for you.

I blocked you all without remorse.

You cannot act like you care about your American content creators, mutuals, or friends if your only concern about this election is, "Will the fics be okay?"

Screw your fics. You don't give a shit about the people writing them.

[nightfallsystem-moved]

Hey there! I'm a trans adult, and here's my story, i was going to DM you so sorry for the anonymous ask i just normally don't share this much in public, but anything for a fellow transexual! :3

I transitioned later in life (age 30) and did so in front of all my students, waited 5ish months on HRT to tell admin, and came out to the students with a copy of my court ordered name change passed around and "fun fact new names new pronouns thanks for understanding"

Friend, when i say the kids are okay i mean it. The kids didn't really fuck with misgendering, four kids secretly came out to me, and generally it was a wonderful experience

I'm years beyond that job now but I'm still in touch with some students (it's nice when your old kids reach out!) And i am stealth for the first time though it's not really necessary, so why stay stealth? I just... I'm so comfortable in my body and gender i just don't think about being trans very often, it's fantastic

Unfortunately i can't help you with a path that's available to you because it seems you live in the states but if you can get to anywhere in Latin America almost you can get as much HRT as you like from the pharmacy and my top chop was done by a private doc who didn't take insurance for under $4k

So it's ok, things get so, so much better, hang in there, I'll follow you rn so you can maybe see which blog i am, cheers

hi hi!! tyysmm (tell me if this isnt okay to post publicly and ill delete it!)

ghhh this really means a lot thank you so so so so much this really just makes me feel better. it always makes me feel better to see trans adults living their lives happily so this means the world to me ....

i actually live in australia haha so im hoping its reasonable in terms of how hard it is,, but my sister already physically transitioned (well. shes much older than i. so) so i hope its not too hard and she'll help me,..

this is just. so so nice to hear. its really nice. i appreciate it more than i can put into words. (sorry. im so sleepy rn )

i cant thank you enough for taking the time out of your day to send me this.

[cherimoyatea]

Hello! I'm writing you anonymously out of embarrassment because the subject is quite sensitive for me. You don't need to reply, I just want to share with you the comfort that your words answering a post accusing people who receive a high % of AI content in the quillbot detector gave me (note that I say people who receive a high %, not people who actually use AI…).

I'll tell you my case. I'm a person who has always liked English a lot, but I'm not a native. I'm not a native by a long shot. I've recently found myself in a very stressful period of my life and I've found a lot of comfort writing fanfiction and sharing it in this community. I don't publish in my original language because it would mean reaching a very small community, and it's a real challenge for me to do it in English and that way I learn a lot.

The thing is that I write in the following way: I write ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING in my language. Then I translate with google translator (pretty dull), and I use chatgpt to look up single words. Yes. I search in chatgpt. Because for me, it's not so clear if scowl is more aggressive than frown, and I need that help. But the help I ask for is that, some vocabulary. I have never, ever asked for help to create the story itself. In fact, each fic takes me a lot of time and work. I've spent up to a month editing some because I'm a perfectionist.

When I saw the post yesterday criticizing ai, I launched the bot out of curiosity… and when I received percentages of between 25-50% on some fics, I started to cry. How was it possible that after all the work behind it, that tool makes me feel like a fraud? I thought about deleting everything. I was ashamed and thought about deleting my tumblr account… and then, I saw your post. And I understood many things.

So, THANK YOU.

PS: I'm using Google Translate right now :P

Hello Annonie!

First of all, thank you so much for reaching out and sharing your feelings with me. I'm so sorry to hear that you cried and even thought about deleting your blog. There is nothing wrong with using tools to improve your English or to check your grammar and sentence structure.

You did nothing wrong 🫂

People need to understand that these AI detectors, including Quillbot, are easy to manipulate and can be easily confused by a combination of factors, such as typos, commas, non-native writing patterns and so on...

Even Quillbot itself includes a disclaimer on their page, stating that their detector is not 100% reliable so please don't think too much about the results it gives you.

There's a huge difference between 25-50% and 50-80%

But this is exactly why @chaos-in-deepspace and others need to reconsider their approach to this subject. They're effectively harming people's mental health under the guise of spreading awareness. Even if unintentionally. (I tagged you to have a look at this, not to call you out, mind you).

In fact, you are not the first person to reach out to me about this. My inbox is flooded with messages from users who are terrified of being falsely accused, and my heart goes out to each and every one of you.

I'm sharing this publicly now because you wrote me anonymously; I hope that's okay.

For clarification: I'm not enabling AI writers. This is a matter that should be discussed, but not by throwing people under the bus.

Anyway.

Annonie, if you're reading this: Please promise me you'll take care of your health, alright? Log out, spend time with loved ones, do something that feels good to you. And if you feel like talking, you can always reach out to me anonymously 🩷✨

Remember: This is not the real world. This is just the internet, with a bunch of strangers sharing their insights on a game that's supposed to be fun.

Don't stop doing what you love. Share your stories, keep working on improving your English skills. You don't need to be perfect; just be patient with yourself, and someday you won't even need to rely on translators. 😊

Love, Cheri 🍒

[aita-lacy-poetry]

I rewrote this so many times it isn't even funny, but okay.

Hi, "Lacy" here. I'm not very active on Tumblr but a friend saw this and recognized the story, so I guess I'm in the right to tell people my side, since she felt she could tell this publicly.

I'll try to be as brief as I can: OP and I started to date in April of 2022, while I was (and still am, really) facing a very difficult time in my life. My baby sister was diagnosed with a very aggressive type of cancer in 2021 and her health is really fluctuating since then. At the time we started to date, my sister was relatively stable and OP could live the fantasy of saving me from my sad life while still having me shower her with time and affection. At the end of 2022, however, my sister's health deteriorated and I would have to spend a lot of time in the hospital. I wasn't as physically and emotionally available at the time, but I still tried my best to be there for OP. When she broke things off in January of 2023, she said she felt neglected and I should have "tried harder". I can't begin to explain how hard I tried. She promised me, however, that there wasn't anyone else involved...

...and then she started dating "Alex" in February. Honestly, I should have known because they were super close in those last weeks and she was always texting him even when she was with me, but I was caught completely by surprise. Needless to say, I was heartbroken.

I was dealing with way too much and the idea of creating a space to post my poetry (I write poems as a way to vent since I was in high school) came from my therapist. Only him and my best friend knew about the account and I really thought that there was no way for someone to recognize those texts as mine. From March to December, I posted in that Instagram account poems about my sister's illness, my rocky relationship with my parents and whatever else that would bother me enough to write something about it. I know OP made it seem like the whole account was about her, but from the 24 poems I posted there, only 6 were about her, and none of them were especially flattering. Actually, the poetry was more about me and my feelings regarding the breakup than about her as a person.

When she told me she read my poetry at the New Year's party, the only thing I could feel was humiliation. I know I was posting my personal stuff in a public space, but I had the illusion of anonymity and that was completely broken. Also the fact that she read all of my pain and could only deduce that I was still in love with her was so absurd that I could laugh if I wasn't crying already. After that I went home and deleted my account. Maybe I should have just blocked her, I don't know. I did what my heart told me to do at the time.

After that she texted me asking to talk, but I just blocked her everywhere. I also wasn't able to write anything since then. I just have this heavy feeling about it I can't get rid of.

I'm sorry, I promised this wouldn't be long. But I hope it clarifies any doubts about what happened.

@am-i-the-asshole-official

AITA for telling my her ex I read her poetry?

I (F19) dated my ex (F18, Lacy) for about 9 months. I broke up with her because she had a lot of issues I just didn't know how to deal with and I also fell in love with my best friend (NB19, Alex, he/his pronouns), so I decided it was the best course of action. I broke up with Lacy on January of 2023 and started dating Alex in February.

Around this time, I found an Instagram account that posted poetry. There was nothing that could identify the author, but the poetry was really good so I started to follow them. With time, however, the poems started to look... familiar. Not the writing style, but some situations on them, for example: one of them said something like "your brother's night sky truck that took us to the stars" (my older brother has a dark blue truck he would lend me so I could take Lacy on dates) and another said "that old guitar you had that you never learned to play like you played me" (I have an old guitar I inherited from my father and I indeed never learned how to play it). These are only two examples, but I found many others that convinced me that account belonged to Lacy.

I know I should have left it alone the second I realized the account belonged to her, but it was so flattering to see she wrote all of that about me. I didn't tell anyone, not my friends or Alex, but I kept following the account and reading Lacy's poetry. I think my feelings for her started to rekindle after that, because no one ever wrote about me like that and, as months passed, she kept writing about me. She never got over me.

My relationship with Alex also started to have problems during this time. He got a job at an ice cream parlour and he started a D&D campain with his friends, which means we started to spend less and less time together. He didn't seem to be as interested in me as he was during our first months of relationship, and I feel like he's taking me for granted. Lately, more specifically since December, we started to fight a lot over small things too.

We went to a New Year's party one of our friends was hosting and Lacy was there too. That enough was reason for Alex to start complaining, since he has a lot of feelings of jealousy regarding her. We ended up having a fight because he thought I knew she'd be there, which I didn't, and he went to stay with our friends, avoiding me the whole night.

It was New Year's eve and I had just fought with my partner, who was monopolizing all of our friends and leaving me by myself, so I started to drink. I know that wasn't a good idea, but I was angry and frustrated and I thought that would help. It didn't, I just got super drunk.

Since my filter disappears when I'm drunk, I went after Lacy and told her her poetry was really good. At first she was confused, so I said I found her poetry account and her poems were amazing, and I was flattered she still thought about me like that, because I didn't think anyone else ever saw me in such a beautiful way.

After that, the panic in her eyes became clear. She started to cry, not full on sobbing but some tears rolled down her face and she didn't answer me, just left. Alex saw the interaction and came to ask me what happened. I ended up telling him about Lacy's poetry account, we fought again and I decided to go home. In that same night, I searched for the poetry account and it was deleted.

This whole situation didn't leave my head since it happened and I don't know what to think. Alex has also been avoiding me and I don't understand why everyone seems to be against me. Lacy blocked me everywhere and I'm beginning to think leaving her for Alex was a huge mistake. It was also never my intention to make Lacy feel like she had to delete her account.

AITA for telling her I knew about the poetry account?

What are these acronyms?

[kamyru]

Hey! I just wanted to send this as I wanted you to know how much your posts truly resonate with me. I wasn't sure if you prefer people to message you, or comment on your posts, so I'm sorry if you would have preferred this as comment on your posts, I just wanted you to have the choice whether this was just something you saw, or if others did too.

When you post something that's personal to you, talking about your own experiences, this time being about not being easy to read, I'm honestly so grateful, because I finally feel like I'm not alone in those sorts of things. If that makes any sense?

I get told so often that I'm either too overly emotional or I'm completely devoid of emotion. Without going into the details, I went through 3 slightly similar experiences while in school regarding SH/SA and how I reacted to these situations. The first time I was told that I was being overly dramatic, whereas by the 3rd I was told I wasn't showing any reaction. Which at first made them accuse me of lying. Yet behind closed doors I was a complete wreck, the sound of my family coming upstairs was enough to set me off.

Anyway, I'm sorry for rambling, I just wanted you to know, I'm extremely grateful that you're willing to be open about these sorts of things on here, and that it's people like you that helps people like me feel less alone in these things! 🥰

Hi! Thank you for sending me this. I hope it's okay if I answer it publicly, but you can tell me if it makes you uncomfortable and I'll delete the post.

I'll start by saying that every time people tell me their stories that are similar to my experience I am sad, because no one is supposed to go through the same thing. Kids are not supposed to grow up like this and adults too. However, in this cruel world that we live in, it somehow helps me to know that there are people that understand me.

I actually feel guilty of posting personal things were I ramble about unfortunate events in my life. I'm not used to talk about them and usually try to cope with everything by myself. But seeing that people can relate to this and find a sort of comfort that they are not alone is what helps me go on. I hope that one day I'll post something that people won't relate to and then I'll know that our world is a little bit brighter. But till then, I'm sending hugs to anyone who goes through traumatic events. Take care of yourself and be kinder to yourself.

[queercorewhore]

spotify cracked instructions?

ooh I hope you don't mind me answering this publicly bc I have been meaning to make this post for ages

Free Cracked Spotify (No Ads) 🏴‍☠️

okay so this works for Android straight up and for apple with slight modifications. if you need help troubleshooting reply to this post or shoot me a DM. this does Not give you offline play, but it gives you all the other premium features - most importantly no ads and unlimited skips

1. Delete Spotify

just uninstall it from your phone or the rest won't work. don't forget this step.

2. find a cracked file

on android these are APKs - I'll link some websites at the end but like any pirate site they're taken down all the time, so you might need to do some hunting. I don't know any reputable sites for apple but the file type is IPA on iOS. I usually just duckduckgo for "cracked Spotify apk" and go with a site I recognise, like apkmody or apkpure

3. download the file

make sure you have adblocker installed or there will be fake download buttons etc.

4. install the file

make sure you have uninstalled the app store Spotify first or this Will Not Work. I know that's the first step but people do forget this.

you might get an auto-install prompt when you download it, or you might need to track it down in your file manager, but it should just install with whatever software you already have on there. you will get a big scary warning telling you that this is a Virus and its doing Scary Things - this is normal, just dismiss it and continue with the install

5. log back in

just click on the newly installed app, log back in with your normal account, and you're all set! it will need updating every so often bc most of them don't automatically update like app store apps - just uninstall and reinstall if there's an update you want. Bonus! if you hate an update just keep the old version!

-

links to sites in the reblog so the post doesn't get eaten

[clearlyclairesblog]

Okay I have something that's probably not going to make it to AO3 so I'll post it here because it's short but sweet and I really like it?

I'VE GOT THE MOVES, A LESTAPPEN STORY.

The both of them wake at the exact same time, each to their own phone ringing.

Max reaches for it sooner than Charles, so he's the first one to hear his agent screaming in his ears.

"I-we what? Who d- Lando? Christ."

At the other side of the bed the same conversation is being held in a mix of English and Italian.

"No we didn't want to co- Cazzo (shit). Non ci credo (I can't believe it). What do we do now?"

They hang up and sigh. The simmetry of their gestures would make them laugh in any other circumstance but they're just too upset to bother.

They look at each other, trying to read the other's mind.

"I'm sorry."

Max is the first one to speak. He knows this is going to affect Charles way more than himself.

"I shouldn't have invited you to that stupid party."

Charles doesn't say a word. The expression on his face is hard to read. He looks as if he wants to speak, but each time his lips part they soon find each other again and no sound comes out.

Max's phone rings once again, breaking the silence.

" It's - uhm, it's Lando. He probably wants to apologize. What do I do?"

"Put him on speaker. I want to hear what he has to say."

His tone is cold and Max doesn't like it one bit. He does as asked.

"Lando. Just so you know, you're on speaker mate, Charles is here listening as well."

"Guys fuck. I'm sorry. Like, really sorry. I didn't mean to post that picture. Shit I wish I never took that at all. Charles I'm - fuck, I don't know what to say. I'll delete it stat."

"Don't. Leave it there."

Max looks at Charles with a frown of confusion on his face.

"Everyone saw that already so what's the point."

"Charles I really am sorry. I wish I d-"

"Yes Lando, you said that already. You wish you hadn't posted that. Still, you did."

"Lando, mate, we appreciate your apologies. Don't do anything. We'll call you back."

With that, Max hangs up and crosses the bed to reach for his boyfriend.

"Hey. Talk to me. Let's analyze the situation together, yes?"

"What's to analyze, Max? Lando outed us. Not that I didn't want to but, shit, I wanted to at least tell my family first?"

"I know schatje, I know. But we can either face it or let it destroy us and I don't honestly want it to affect us more than it should."

"Ferrari is going to hate me."

"Well, I'm sure Marko is somewhere having a heart attack right now. I'm dating a man and that man is Charles Leclerc? Oh he's probably dead by now."

That puts a little smile on Charles' lips.

"How are you so calm about this?"

"I'm not. But I am worried about you more than I am angry about this whole thing."

"I want to see the picture. Did you see it?"

Max shakes his head as he grabs his phone and opens instagram.

"It's on Lando.jpg right?"

"I hope. It's normally just Carlos that ends up on his main."

Charles is hugging Max from behind, his head resting on Max's left shoulder to look at the phone.

The first pic on the post is one of Charles alone, dancing to the music. There's a caption, too. <<He got moves ya know.>>

Typical Lando, really.

Max is scrolling the other pictures but what really captures Charles' attention is the comment section.

-Daniel.jpg: Omg. I'd never top this thread, that's for sure.

-Estebanocon: I didn't know but I'm happy.

-georgerussell63: Should have posted me and @ alex_albon but alright.

"Well, at least we look cute?"

Charles kisses him on the head.

"Of course we do, it's us."

"What th- did you known people actually gave us a ship name?"

"A ship name? Like.. Like, Ferragnez?"

"No idea who they are but I guess, yeah."

"Man, if you're going to publicly be my boyfriend you have to learn more about Italy"

Max chuckles at that. It never ceases to amaze him how Charles fused himself with Italy, Italians and all things related.

"I stopped eating pineapple on Pizza, I think that's a start. Anyway, there's plenty of comments about us where they call us Lestappen."

Charles reflects on it for a second.

"Lestappen?"

"Yep."

"I don't like it."

"I do."

"Of course you do, it's your surname basically."

"Someone's jealous."

"I'm not je-shit Max, look at this."

f1: we knew it from the Austrian podium 👀

"Is that admin for real?"

"To be fair we did almost forget we were not alone on that podium."

"Schat, you won. I couldn't care less about what others would think. Like I don't right now. I love you and you love me, so fuck everyone else."

"We still need to fix this, tho. Deleting it won't do it, we just need to face it properly."

"You want to schedule an interview or something?"

"They will probably make us do one anyway. But like, we should address it."

"Give me the phone."

Max pulls the phone from Charles' hands and starts to type.

"There you go"

maxverstappen1: you should see the other moves he got.

"Max!"

"What? It's true. You got the best moves in bed, babe"

charles_leclerc: I know I got the moves. Thanks for letting everyone know. @ maxverstappen1

pierregasly: @ yukitsunoda0511 you owe me 20 bucks.

[cooloddball]

I dunno but, all this made me think of cockles break up theory and what actually happened... what really happened? all this made me think of something completely different :((

I really sorry for Jensen, he's the guy with heart eyes, he's the guy who are sooooo in love with Misha and... fuck, that hurts.

Look again all the gifts, all the masterlist post, he is the one who are really enchanted, he is the most openly about it:")

I just... hope that Jensen is okay with all this

I have tried to come up with a good answer for this ask but i keep deleting each one so I'll settle to answering it will some tags i left on another post where they were so happy at njcon22

#seeing them happy leaves me so conflicted because cockles is real but misha is straight#i wanna believe but also poor jensen#like imagine you have been married to a man for over a decade and they publicly come out as straight#how do you cope with that#bobo tell us how to cope#i love them still#and i still believe#but something's broken

[quensty]

private ask if you'd prefer // hey, i was wondering if you'd be willing to say why you deleted "bible study" off ao3? i love your writing and had bookmarked it to read for later, and had a moment of panic when I realized it was deleted and I couldn't remember the fic it was! Is it possible you'd re-upload it, or allow me to read it? I only ask because I'm a big fan! If it's too personal/sensitive I totally get it, hope you're doing well!

hi! i'm doing very well, thank you!

i'm answering this publicly because i'm not sure whether anyone else here is wondering the same thing (i hope you're okay with that. if not, let me know and i'll delete this straight away!). anyway, i deleted it because i regretted posting it immediately after i did it lol. most ppl on ao3 aren't really looking for original work, so i thought that no one was going to care abt it and that it was a weird thing to do. so imagine how flattered and surprised i am by this message.

anyway, that's no problem at all! i just re-uploaded it right here. tysm for this ask! i hope you're safe and healthy, and i hope u enjoy it and take a moment to tell me ur thoughts when u finish it :) <33 (if u want)

[talldecafcappuccino]

Title: Between Close Friends

Rating: General Audience

Chapters: 1/1

Relationship: Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton

Summary: Ted is bad at social media, but is that a bad thing?

Ted, what the fuck are you doing????

Ted peers at his phone, rubbing sleep from his eyes and reads the message again.

He scrolls down and sees he has twelve more texts and three missed calls all from Keeley Jones. He turns off his nighttime notifications with a few exceptions for emergency contacts, so it’s not surprising he slept through the messages.

He scratches at the stubble along his cheek and checks his clock. It’s seven o’clock here in Kansas, so it must be . . . early afternoon in London. He thinks through the last day, but he can’t remember anything interesting enough to have Keeley on the case.

Henry came over to his extended-stay hotel, they went to an American football game, got a late dinner in downtown Wichita, and watched a movie before bed.

They did make it on the Jumbotron for the Lasso-off, the team’s half-time dance contest, but his moves weren’t especially embarrassing. At least not in his opinion. Unless one of the moves was actually an insult to the English in which case, oh jeeze, he needs to get on this quick.

The call barely connects before Keeley’s voice echoes in his ear.

“Oy! Ted!”

“Keeley, I am so sorry for whatever I did to offend the great people of the United Kingdom. I am ready to make a statement and an apology tour as soon as you tell me which dance move I need to retire immediately.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I need you to log out of the AFC Richmond Instagram account. Like, now.”

That stops Ted in his tracks.

Does he even have access to that? He remembers a post-it note of accounts and passwords from Beard on their first day with Richmond.

There was an account run by the previous manager, but Keeley had taken it over long ago, converting it to the official team account. She had also made Ted a personal Instagram for his own use and brand development, but he never posted publicly.

He puts her on speaker phone and opens the Instagram app. She’s right. He’s logged into the team account with all 25 million followers. Well, shoot.

There are about a dozen stories posted from last night. All of Ted and Henry’s day together. There’s puns (“having a cow” at dinner with an image of Henry holding up a beef rib and screaming his head off), Ted and Henry singing at a dueling piano bar, the two brushing their teeth together in the bathroom mirror.

“No offense, but I think this may delay the Tom Ford deal you asked me about.”

“Yeah. I get that.”

“It’s just, you know, dads aren’t quite their brand. Or our brand. I mean we’re not anti-dorky dad, but you know with the whole comeback narrative during the season hiatus . . .”

“No I get it. You’ve put a lot of work into rebranding this team and I just undermined that.”

She sighs, but it’s fond.

“Sorry, Ted. It’s not like what you posted was bad, it’s rather sweet actually. It’s just a little different from the posts I had scheduled.”

Ted nodded. It wasn’t the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him, but he felt bad for making Keeley’s job harder than it needed to be.

“No, I’m sorry Keeley. I swear, it won’t happen again.”

****

“Can you believe what Ted did last night? I’ve never seen someone so bad at social media.”

Rebecca has no idea what Keeley is talking about when she walks into her office. She flops onto the couch, feet splayed on the coffee table, clearly exhausted by whatever Ted has done from 4,438 miles away.

“So many puns. Which, don't get me wrong, I love word play more than most people. But I don’t think it’s right for the team right now.”

Rebecca shuts her laptop.

“You’re right about puns not being part of the team plan, but what’s this about Ted? What did he do, exactly?”

Ted hasn’t posted anything in at least 24 hours. Not that Rebecca is keeping track.

“Oh he managed to switch to the team account on Instagram and posted about his entire evening out with Henry. It was quite sweet, actually. The ones that made sense,” but then she pulled a face.”He’s like, really, really bad at social media.”

Oof. Well that isn’t great, but Rebecca doesn’t think there’s anything particularly terrible about Ted’s social media use normally.

“But everything seems under control? No big PR actions needed.”

“It’s fine. I had him log out and wrote a post about Coach Lasso’s surprise social media takeover from America.”

Rebecca nods. Okay, so it was all sorted. Keeley has things totally under control.

But she reaches for her phone anyway. She opens Instagram, taps through the AFC Richmond stories, and snorts at the image of Henry with the rib as big as his head.

“Are people at least being kind?” Rebecca hopes Ted logged out without seeing any messages about Henry. Not that she could see any reason for it, but people were shitheads on the internet.

“Well, wanker is still the most common response. But many of them are wanker with a little heart at the end, so I think it’s fine. We actually got a lot of responses, proper engagement and all that,” she looks up at the ceiling, considering it for a moment before rolling her head to look back at Rebecca.

“If we weren’t trying to present the team as a badass phoenix rising from the ashes, I’d say a Ted takeover isn’t a bad idea. He just needs some supervision. Maybe a phone with a better camera.”

Rebecca is only half listening as she taps to the next story.

“Aw, they went to dueling piano night. That must have been fun for Henry.”

She’s smiling at her phone when Keeley asks, “Dueling piano night?”

“Yeah, you know at Jim Bob’s Bar.”

Keeley is looking at her blankly.

“Fine. I know it’s not really Jim Bob’s bar. It’s probably not even a bar if Henry’s there. But I can’t remember the real name off the top of my head.”

She’d looked it up once, after Ted first posted about the dueling pianos. For some reason she started calling it Jim Bob’s. Ted didn’t seem bothered and had even started calling it that himself.

When she looks up again, Keeley is staring at her, eyes narrowed.

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you know so much about some bar in Kansas?”

That gives Rebecca pause. She isn’t sure what Keeley means by the line of questioning.

“It’s not some totally random bar. Ted posts about it whenever he goes for dueling pianos.”

If he gets to the bar early or she has a particularly late evening, Rebecca catches the story before going to bed. When she does, she always asks him to put in $5 for Wannabee by the Spice Girls. She owes him a small fortune by now, but it’s worth it to see the bar explode with cheers and jeers.

Some nights she misses the story, but he puts money in anyways and she wakes up to a shaky video of, Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want.

Rebecca thinks this is a good enough explanation, but Keeley is still staring at her.

“I’ve literally no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Keeley, you know social media is not my thing. All I know is that sometimes Ted posts about this bar on his tiny friends list thing,” she waves her hand around, trying her best to describe it. “The one with the green ring around it.”

Keeley leaps to her feet, eyes wide.

“Am I not on Ted’s Close Friends list??”

Before Rebecca can say a word, Keeley is halfway out the door, texting furiously.

“Roy, better not be on there, if I’m not on there. Ted knows how I feel about being left out!” she shouts over her shoulder. “Sorry Rebecca, I need to do some investigating, asap.”

Oof. She may have just created a problem. It’s probably best to give Ted a heads up before Keeley gets through interrogating Roy.

She drafts a text once, twice, then deletes it and presses call instead.

“Hey Boss, let me guess. Keeley got a hold of you?”

It’s been a while since they’ve chatted, what with the time difference. It’s bizarre how familiar his American accent has become.

“She just left my office, yes.”

There’s a loud crack in the background and a metal clang.

“Where are you?”

“Oh, just the batting cages with Henry,” he says, cheering loudly. “Hey, do you guys have a sport called baseball that has nothing to do with American baseball? You know, like football and football?”

She chuckles, “I don’t believe we do. However there is always cricket.”

He hums, considering it.

“Now Ted, I think there’s something you should know.”

“Lay it on me Boss. I know I caused a headache this morning, what’s the damage? What do you need me to do? I am at your disposal or I’ll lay really, really low as long as you need me to.”

“It’s not that Ted. It’s Keeley.”

“Keeley?”

“Yes, she’s on a bit of a mission at the moment. It seems you left her off your Close Friends list? I think that’s right. On Instagram?”

“Huh. How did that come up?”

“I was telling her about Jim Bob’s. Apparently she had never heard of it and realized you had a whole social media life she was unaware of.”

“Right . . .”

“So do what you will with that.”

“You haven’t talked to anyone else about this yet, have you?”

Rebecca is confused by this new direction.

“No. Why? Ted, is something wrong?”

It takes a long moment for Ted to respond.

“What can I say, I’m just really bad at this social media stuff.”

It's a non-response and an overly folksy one at that. But Rebecca can’t be fooled by the aw shucks routine—not anymore. She tries again.

“Ted. Who is on your close friends list?”

“Uh. Not a lot of people.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“What can I say?” He huffs, a little frustrated. She would feel bad for prying, but she can't help herself. “The list of people I want to share silly life things with is small.”

“How small?” she wonders.

“Very small.”

The line goes silent and Rebecca swears she lost him. But then she hears him take a deep breath.

“It’s you. You’re the list.”

Rebecca feels flush. That’s not where she was expecting this conversation to go.

“I know that might be a lot. You don’t have to say anything. I just, that’s the honest truth and I’d like to get ahead of it before Keeley harangues the entire team.”

It’s a lot to take in, but it makes sense. Sometimes when she’s watching his posts, she wonders about his audience. Who else cares about his biscuit recipe improvements or Broadway Sundays (a recent development that’s turned into a shared movie night.)

“Rebecca?”

She realizes she’s been quiet for a while. The moment feels tenuous and she worries about saying the wrong thing, sending him running faster than Keeley during a social media snafu.

Finally she settles on, “You know, you’re welcome to text me silly life things. It wouldn’t be a bother.”

She brushes invisible crumbs from her desk, listening carefully to his breathing on the other end of the line.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Maybe I can send some, too?”

Rebecca can hear his smile from across the Atlantic.

“Well, alright then.”

****

That night, Ted’s phone pings and he rolls over to see a text message from Rebecca. It’s a picture of the sun rising over her garden wall.

Something silly to start the day.

But it doesn’t feel silly. Not at all.

[crystu-cii]

TW: VENT; FEEL FREE TO DELETE.

Just had a mental breakdown, my brother (who has threatened to kill me multiple times and literally fucking hates me) called me autistic as an ‘‘“insult”’’ , my mom, whether on purpose or not, tried to convince me I was bad for self-diagnosing and i didn't have adhd because I was “smart” and “had good grades” as if people with adhd are worthless idiots... she doesn't even know i have anxiety and paranoia.. let alone the fact I'm queer... she says she “loves me with all of her heart”... But I don't know how much longer I'll ‘believe it’... or if she'd still if she found out the truth...

I.. am so, so very sorry for telling you all this, all this at once.. I'm sorry, you're the only one I trust with this information without knowing who i am...

it's all okay, no need for more apologizing! /gen im just super glad you decided to let it out in a way. and i apologize if posting this publicly onto my blog is too much for you, this is the only way I can reply (you can always just rush to my inbox and tell me to delete it! or- if you feel comfortable enough, you can dm me here on tumblr! /gen)

but I must admit- your brother and your mom sound horrible /srs now I may not them personally- or if they ever have a good side that i dont know of- but a brother threatening to KILL their SIBLING is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS /Negative

and GEEZ that ableism is the absolute worst- self diagnosing is completely valid. plus- who would know yourself better than, well, you??

i could go on for ages about how i think the your brother's and mother's movements are just wrong- but i would keep it short for now. ^^ whoever you are, anon, stay strong. I believe in you, and I am very proud of how far you have come. I hope my response makes you feel a tad bit better. ❤