#[ but this blog isn't being abandoned in the slightest! i just need a bit of time

[ampersand-counter]

Oh my gosh! How did I not celebrate Ampersand Day this year? & how did I not know about its existence?! Ampersand is both a really cool letter of the alphabet, & it is my favourite!

& I know it's not technically a letter, but that means it can be buddies with Pluto! Pluto & Ampersand! Rejected by society & science, but they live on in our hearts, souls, & memories.

But also, why isn't it a letter? Because people are stupid & stopped using it? Because it makes the alphabet have an odd number of letters & people like even numbers? Who cares?! Ampersand is part of the family & family means nobody gets left behind!! We can't just abandon the ampersand for such stupid & pathetic reasons!!

There's a lot of strikes & petitions out there, & yet I haven't seen even one fighting for the ampersand!! & I know there are more ampersand supporters out there, & this blog is a prime example of that!!

Will I be the one to start this petition? No, because I am weak & a coward. & I am not a leader in the slightest. But if no one else will stand up for it, I will eventually rise & start the petition once I have gained the confidence & strength to fight to return the ampersand to its rightful place in the alphabet, & finally not be stuck sitting above the seven key. (& I have suddenly realized while typing this that both my favourite letter & my favourite number share a spot on the keyboard.)

Now, the question may be 'if we do rearrange the keyboard where will ampersand go? & how will that affect the other keys?' Well, let me tell you. *Stops typing & thinks for a long time.* Look at the space key on an average keyboard. It's huge, & your thumbs don't even comfortably hit the ends of it. It could easily be shifted & downsized a bit & make room for the ampersand. You could hit the ampersand with your most useful & unique 'finger': the thumb.

Now this ask has gone on for a long time, & I am not sorry in the slightest. & while I was counting my ampersands at first, I lost track around 'there's a lot of strikes' & 'Will I be the one to start this petition.' I'm just trying to throw as many in as I can while still keeping this comprehendable & at least somewhat possible to follow. I mostly believe in everything in this, & will probably keep my word, but there are no absolutes & guarantees within this. I mostly just saw this blog & immediately felt a need to make an ask & then acted on that.

I hope you enjoyed & at least somewhat followed this rant. Have a wonderful, glorious, & ampersand-filled day!

wow, this is an excellent ask! I may answer it more in depth later, but my cat is being a whiny butthead, so I need to pet him. Honestly, I think that's a great idea! I'm on mobile right now, but isn't the ampersand accessible from one of the number keys? I'd love to have it more easily available though :))

————————

&

&/&

Ampersands: 36

Beats Current Record: Yes!

[x-ero-x]

Activity here might be sparse for a little bit because some things kicked off in my family.  Please be patient with me.

[1-800-scaryphone]

okay i've been wanting to discuss dad hcs for norm for a long time now (this may or may not be updated later):

D.IALTOWN VERSE:

norm never had children of his own in canon, and i'm carrying that over to my blog (despite how much i love changing canon).

his wife actually really wanted children, but norm was terrified of turning out like his dad and abandoning them (rightfully so, considering that wormhole... 😔)

ironically, norm would have made a great parent, though. he might have been a little more gung-ho about self-reliance and picking yourself up by your bootstraps than most parents, and he'd be the sort of dad to teach his kid to shoot a gun so they could protect themselves from "those commie bastards," but on the whole?? a great parent.

like, tucking his kid in every night and making sure they know they're loved?? that would've been him. he might not have been as scared of losing his family as he would be post-wormhole, but he WOULD want his existing family to know he's there and that he loves them.

which brings me to post-dialtown, because oh my god, i have two parenting scenarios for him and i love them to BITS.

norm would be either a godfather or a second father to gingi's kids (coughs in being shipping trash...). he doesn't understand gingi biology in the SLIGHTEST, but goddammit, he's gotta make sure those kids survive under gingi's care. after all, gingi doesn't even know how to take care of themself- how are they gonna take care of their childer??

norm is horrified and baffled by some of the shit he has to do to care for gingi's kids (feeding them centipedes, for example), but he does it anyway lmao.

one of gingi's babies calls him "daddy" for the first time and he starts tearing up lol

THAT'S NOT EVEN INCLUDING HOW HE REACTED WHEN GINGI NAMED ONE OF THEIR KIDS AFTER HIM, he was genuinely touched but refused to let it show lmao

AND THAT BRINGS ME TO HIM ADOPTING @feralreason 'S WILLIAM...

he cares william so much, that kid is practically his own flesh and blood (genuinely, i think a lot abt how they LOOK like they could be related ok)

he was really REALLY reluctant to play any parental role in william's life at first (despite gradually looking to him as a son), mostly because he has a track record for losing everything he cares about in tragic ways and losing a SON would be devastating

things have turned out okay so far!

he's constantly insecure about his parenting ability even though he's literally the best parental william has EVER had.

basically, norm would do anything for william, and he has no fucking clue that william would do the same (nor the extent of william's appreciation for him).

he's also pretty clueless about most of william's sordid history. he just knows henry was an abusive piece of shit, which was what finally got him to formally adopt william in the first place.

F.NAF / D.SAF CROSSOVER:

this is another one where norm adopts feralreason's william, but this time, william is a baby and has been spared his Henry Trauma(tm)

basically, a baby william ran from the orphanage and was probably gonna pick norm's pocket or smth when norm was actually NICE to him, and the rest is history

again- despite all of norm's reservations about becoming a father beforehand, william is just too precious (in every sense of the word) and is clearly in need of a family. norm has to take this kid in.

norm spoils william a bit more than he would any kid of his own- mostly because of his self-reliant ideals. william is an exception because he's already BEEN living that life. he hasn't had anybody until now, of course norm's gonna give him the best home life he can

F.NAF AU:

the one au where norm doesn't adopt dsilliam, only because dsilliam isn't there-

instead, he's a father to none other than cassidy (with her full name being "cassiopeia"). she gets her bloodlust and thirst for revenge from SOMEWHERE.

with norm still being so scared to have kids, he is incredibly careful to be there for his daughter and never leave her behind...this ultimately doesn't save her, though, and he blames himself BIG-TIME.

he also tried to teach her self-defense and wanted to teach her to shoot a gun before she died. his wife objected to the latter.

norm taught cassidy a good amount of skills and made sure she could take care of herself, though that didn't stop him from being a teensy bit overprotective....he cares ok??

GENERAL:

norm reads his kids bedtime stories and tucks them in every night.

this applies moreso to verses that aren't d.ialtown, but he tells his kids he loves them as much as he can.

if he was to sing his kids a lullaby at night, it would be this.

he loves sharing his fondness for the stars (former fondness, in the case of d.ialtown) with his kids, and makes sure to stargaze with them. he also educates them on constellations along the way. (in cassidy's case, he makes sure to tell her allll about the cassiopeia constellation.)