#Also if anyone DOES Make fixes for my CC I better not fucking catch any of you putting it behind Paywalls EVER!

[crowsmodhell]

None of the gravity falls clothing is working :[[

I'm sorry I'm kind of on a semi-permanent hiatus from The Sims 4/Making Sims 4 CC :c People are more than welcome to make fixes for my old custom content though until I pick it up again but I'm honestly not planning to anytime soon

[n3s0]

hi i’m going to discuss the doomsday war streams and overall the conclusion of what i’d consider season 3 of the dream smp because hyperfixation go brrrrr 

(for clarity sake: season 1 is from when l’manberg defects from the dream smp to when wilbur decides to host an election. season 2 is from swag2020 vs pog2020 to the manberg vs pogtopia war on nov 16th. season 3 is from the start of tubbo’s presidency to the jan 6th doomsday war.) 

tldr: i definitely think the cc’s can look on what happened this season and improve greatly. that’s not to say this wasn’t a good season, there are a lot of things they’ve improved since season 1, but there are also things they can improve on in the future. this season was lacking a connecting thread or goal and it made it feel disjointed and left character’s in limbo. a way to fix that could be either scripting the story more strictly, fixing communication problems and/or making the plot into more self contained but slightly overlapping stories.

i think my biggest problem with this season was the fact that it felt so disjointed. one of the best things about the first season is the consistent plot line: l’manberg is trying to win independence. you had eret’s betrayal, dream’s tyranny, wilbur and tommy’s whole dynamic, and an underlying subplot with the disc war, but it all ultimately connected to l’manberg’s fight for independence. it’s what makes the first season so good and that kind of consistent plot is missing in this season. 

even the second season had the main plot of taking back manberg. there was wilbur’s insanity, but that tied back to the elections. there was tension between tubbo and tommy, but it tied back to the elections. even the badlands tied back to bad, ant, skeppy, and sam deciding they’re done with manberg AND pogtopia and deciding to stoke the fire. it all tied back and character’s had weeks to slowly develop with the setting. 

this season you had techno retiring, ghostbur reconciling with fundy, tubbo’s presidency, whatever was going on with schlatt and quackity?, george is king?, el rapid mexican l’manberg that whole thing, tommy’s exile, el rapids fighting dream smp/eret’s kingship?, the butcher army, techno UNretiring and teaming with tommy, tommy using techno to get his discs back, techno using tommy to destroy l’manberg, the prison, the bloodvines, and probably more im forgetting. there was a LOT going on, even techno and wilbur have ooc acknowledged this. and in my opinion it was just too much. character’s weren’t given enough time to develop naturally and the pacing had to go fast enough to fit all the plot into it, leaving little time for the character’s relationships to develop with the plot. 

most notably this is a problem with character’s like niki, fundy, ranboo (though not too bad with his character) and eret. eret had worked hard on a redemption arc and then had to go back to being king because george didn’t want to be involved (then changed his mind which...okay) which really fucked up all of the development he spent a LOT of time on during the second season. niki had to jump from siding with tubbo and tommy against wilbur’s insanity to suddenly tubbo’s president and her character just...can’t know that wilbur is dead for some reason? and now she needs content so she has to scrap together an anti-hero plot for herself. fundy’s works a little better i feel, with his lowkey insanity arc he’s having as of now, but the problem with him is he didn’t get enough lowkey plot moments to show his character’s devolution from neglected to vengeful. ranboo was thrown head first into the plot and while he’s doing an AMAZING job of keeping himself afloat, he just hasn’t had enough time to make his character’s mental decline seem believable, at least to me. not enought has happened to his character for it to work out, due to pacing. all of these character’s are AMAZING concepts but the fact that they feel so inconsistent can be related back to the fact that there really wasn’t any time given to let character’s slowly develop and change, and instead they had to cram all of their character development into the first 30 mins of a plot important stream.

and i will offer a counterargument here of the fact that season 3 is when wilbur’s writing stopped and also was when it really started catching a large audiences’ interest. so naturally more people wanted to be involved and due to the nature of the way this story is told, where each character is an actual CC who needs content and can’t just be a background support character, there HAS to be a lot going on for everyone to get their slice. and i think that’s the ultimate downfall of using this medium to tell a story. you NEED those background characters, the characters that don’t have to be 3 dimensional, the characters that don’t need to be there for everything and get their lines in. so i can’t fault them for having a clunky story when it has to be that way to be fair. 

ultimately i still really enjoy the story, and i hope this doesn’t sound too nitpicky. it’s downfall, of everyone having to be an important character, is also what makes it so good! don’t like the “main character”? go watch someone else, who’s the main character of their own POV of the story. every single character is incredibly complex and has their own unique set of motivations, goals, and traits. it works really well with the running theme of history, and how not only does it repeat itself through miscommunication and ignorance but also how the opinion on events changes from who’s telling the story. the fact that you can tell every CC genuinely cares about their character also really does show in the acting and writing and just everything about the server and story. the flaws of the story are very easy to look over because of just how much time and care all of them put into this server and it really helps the story. an okay story written by passionate people with always be better than an amazing one written by apathetic storywriters; and the smp’s story is definitely more than just okay, at least to me. 

i didn’t want to write this just to complain and then offer no solution, so i do have a few ideas on how i’d like to see this fixed or at least improved. they actually already somewhat do this, but i feel like they could start breaking up the plot more. similarly to how there was the bloodvines plot going on at the same time as tommy’s exile plot, i feel like they could take a chunk of say 5-10 members and they each have their semi-contained plot. especially with l’manberg now destroyed, the thing that way tying a lot of the members together, it would be easier to do this. there can be connecting threads through the stories, like how tubbo and fundy would see the bloodvines or bad would visit tommy in exile, but ultimately not every character has to be involved in everyone else’s story. 

say you have tubbo, tommy, quackity, fundy, ghostbur, and dream for one plot of trying to get the discs back and making dream revive ghostbur. at the same time you can have techno, phil, ranboo, dream, and sam dealing with the prison and techno or someone being put in the prison with dream manipulating ranboo through his memories. bad, ant, sam, puffy, and skeppy can continue with the egg. eret, fundy, niki, and ghostbur work through the trauma they’ve gained from everything with l’manberg and their interpersonal relationships. similarly to how karl is doing the tales of the SMP right now, these storylines are self contained but characters can overlap and therefore so can relationships. 

my other solution would honestly be to just work on the seemingly lack of communication. make sure everyone is getting the content they need (with people having to understand that not everyone is going to get the animatic worthy lines every stream, and not everyone gets to play a huge part in each event.) however this entails having a much more concrete script, which highkey removes the charm of the smp. it also means that inevitably someone is going to not be getting good content, or content at all, and that’s not fun or good for anyone. ultimately i’d like to see an improvement on the communication for the plot (niki feeling excluded, george and eret not being told about important events, communicating when people are trying to have genuine canon important speeches and not BMing them (cough cough tubbo at niki about her taxes cough cough techno during tubbo and tommys reunion)) and that doesn’t necessarily have to mean a fully fleshed out script. 

in the end, what everyone on this server has managed to do with this storyline is something that’s genuinely impacted me! it’s opened my eyes to new ways stories can be told and this fandom is the first big one i’ve been in since probably fucking voltron or homestuck in the mid-2010s. i love what the CCs have managed to do, and while i think this was a healthy amount of criticism for the story i in no way want to demean just how much passion and effort the CCs put into this server. none of these people are professional story writers or actors so the amount of talent we’ve seen is astonishing. this is simply me expressing what i think the problems are, because every story has problems, especially one that’s being made with such a unique medium like improv roleplay streaming. if you have anything you wanna add please feel free to add to this post or reply! i’d love to see :) thank you for reading if you made it this far lmao

[klove0511]

Milestones and Misunderstandings

SPN Rare Ship CC: Round 24 | @klove0511​ vs. @andromytta​, @rareshipcreationschallenge

Prompt: Clone-a-Willie kit

Ship: Sam/Cass

Rating: T

Word Count: 2711

Tags/Warnings: mildly homophobic!Mary, protective!Dean, oblivious!Dean, Sam has self-worth issues, fluff, Season 14

Summary: There is something different about Sam and Cass. The lingering stares, the intimate touches. The careful whispers and secret smiles. Dean knew it. He was going to get to the bottom of it, one way or another.

AO3 Link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17606804

Shoutouts to my awesome betas bananamilkunnie (aka @sweetteamultifandom) and @revwinchester! Thank you both for checking this over for me.

Milestones and Misunderstandings

It started innocently. Dean was observant, when he wanted to be, and even he was hard-pressed to ignore how much closer Sam and Cass seemed these days. More than once he’d caught Cass slipping food to Sam in the library or taking lore books from him and ushering him to bed. It stung, a little, that Cass had taken on Dean’s role as big brother in his absence, but Dean couldn’t be too upset. Someone had to watch out for Sam, and Dean had asked Cass to do it, once upon a time. Still, the soft looks between them spoke of something more. Dean considered it his big brother duty to get to the bottom of it and commence teasing as necessary.

Sam was, predictably, in the library with a pile of books in front of him.

“Hey, Sammy,” Dean said, pulling out a chair across from his brother.

Sam blinked at him. “Hey.” He frowned. “What’s going on?”

Dean did his best to sound casual. No need to scare Sammy off. “Nothing. I’ve, uh, just noticed you and Cass have been spending a lot of time together lately.”

“I suppose. He’s been staying close to the bunker for Jack. Well, that and there isn’t any angel business keeping him away for once. We’ve been taking advantage of the time.” Sam frowned. “It’s not too obvious, right? I know everyone from Apocalypse World has accepted Cass, but still. After everything angels have done to them I don’t know how they’d feel if they knew.”

Dean felt rather suddenly like he was all left feet and the conversation had somehow run away from him. “If they knew what? That you and Cass are friends? I think they know, Sam.”

Sam glowered, clearly communicating that he thought Dean was being an idiot on purpose. “No. Obviously I mean,” he waved vaguely, “the extratime we’ve been spending together.”

“What the hell are you—oh.” Suddenly it clicked. “You mean you and Cass are—” Dean also made a vague gesture that he hoped Sam could interpret. Teasing Sam over a crush was one thing, but he was completely unprepared for the possibility that Sam and Cass were already an item, and he couldn’t quite find the words he needed to articulate that.

“Well, yeah. Why do you look surprised? It’s not exactly news.” Sam was frowning hard enough that his worry line had appeared between his eyes.

Dean was struggling to find his footing here. Sam thought he knew. He implied that it wasn’t a new thing. “I don’t—How long?” He hoped that hadn’t sounded too much like an accusation.

“Years.”

“Years?” he choked.

“Yeah. It started after you left that last time. After—after Kevin.”

He remembered that particular black spot in their history too well. Cass had gone back to the bunker with Sam to finish healing the damage from the Trials. He’d thought that was all there was to it. “You’ve been hiding this for five years?

Sam’s face hardened instantly. “I wasn’t hiding anything, Dean. I thought you knew.”

“How the hell was I supposed to know? You never said anything. And you two sure don’t act like a couple. I mean you barely even touch each other.” He was flailing around at this point, but he didn’t care. He’d thought things were better than this between them. It should not have taken him five years to figure out that his little brother was in a serious relationship with his best friend.

“Just because not everyone is into PDA like y—”

“No, Sam. I’m not talking about making out in the halls or whatever, though that would have clued me in real fast. I mean touch—casual touch. Pats on the back or, or holding hands or something.” Dean could hear the frustration in his own voice and grimaced internally. This was not how this was supposed to go, but he had a nagging feeling that something was off about this relationship. He needed to get to the bottom of it.

Sam sighed. “It doesn’t matter what it looks like to you, Dean. We touch plenty when no one is watching. Even if we didn’t, I wouldn’t care. I mean—he’s an angel. After everything I’ve— The fact that he even gives me the time of day feels like a miracle.”

There it was. All Dean could hear was that Sam thought he wasn’t good enough, wasn’t worth Castiel’s time. It didn’t matter at all that he knew Sam had struggled with his self-worth over the years, that Dean himself had contributed to those issues as much as anyone. If Cass wasn’t making Sam happy then they needed to have a chat. Dean felt the fury brewing as he stormed out of the library. Time to have a conversation with Cass.

Dean ultimately found Cass in the storeroom, doing who knew what with the spell ingredients. “We need to talk,” he growled.

Cass looked up. “Sam said you were upset. What happened?”

“You’re sleeping with my brother!” he accused, finger pointed menacingly as he moved into Cass’s personal space.

Cass tilted his head. “I don’t understand. You know I don’t sl—”

“Sex, Cass. You’re having sex with Sam.”

Castiel straightened and took on a look that was deadly serious. “This bothers you. Why?”

“He’s my brother!”

Cass narrowed his eyes. “And?” When Dean didn’t have words to further clarify the issue with Cass’s eyes blazing at him, he continued. “He is a grown man. I was unaware we needed your permission.”

This conversation was also rapidly spinning out of his control. “It’s not about permission. It’s—Sam has a history with relationships.”

Castiel nodded. “You are referring to Jessica.”

Dean froze at how casually Cass dropped her name. Sam didn’t talk about her, ever. Except he very obviously had with his angel.

Cass continued, “I like to think I am doing rather well. I have come back to life nearly as many times as you.”

Dean frowned. That wasn’t the issue. Or rather, it was only part of the issue. “He thought I already knew. About the two of you. Despite the fact that you act nothing like a couple. And Sam apparently thinks it’s a fucking miracle you want to even talk to him. What the hell kind of relationship do you have?”

Cass’s expression darkened. “One in which I respect Sam’s boundaries. As for his opinion of himself, you think I don’t know? That I am not acutely aware of how little I deserve his affection after everything angels—after everything I have done to him?” He shrugged helplessly. “I cannot convince him.”

That was a surprise. He hadn’t expected Castiel to understand, to want to fix it as much as he did. But if he knew, if he wanted to change things—yeah, Dean could work with this. He remembered what Sam had said about the beginnings of their relationship and did some mental math. “So, tell me, what have you got planned for your anniversary?”

Cass’s confused head tilt told him everything he needed to know.

Hours later, Sam and Cass were alone in their room, snuggled on the bed with a Netflix documentary droning in the background. Sam played with the label on his beer bottle while Cass gently carded his fingers through Sam’s hair.

“I just don’t understand why he’s so upset about this,” Sam said. He looked up at Cass. “I really thought he knew.”

“I know. I believed Dean was more concerned about why you did not tell him of our relationship.” Cass let his voice drop even deeper.

Sam sighed heavily. “I didn’t tell him because I was sure he’d figured it out! That’s all!”

Cass’s pace never wavered. No matter how upset Sam became, he maintained his slow, methodical petting, knowing it would help calm Sam. “I believe you. You know how Dean worries. He has not forgotten what I did to your wall.”

Sam stiffened, then pulled himself out of Castiel’s reach. Cass felt his stomach drop in fear. It was a most unpleasant sensation. “Cass, that was years ago. Ancient history.”

Cass spoke softly. “I nearly killed you.” He wouldn’t hide from this. They had never discussed it, not really, and it was past time to do so.

“You saved me.” Sam shook his head. “You—you took on my memories to save my life.”

Cass kept his gaze neutral. “I was simply fixing my greatest mistake. I do not deserve your admiration or gratitude for that. I should never have hurt you, Sam.”

Sam stared at him. The frankness in his gaze was starting to make Castiel uncomfortable, and he thought he understood a little of what Dean had been telling him for years. Finally, he spoke. “You never forgave yourself for that.” His tone was full of wonder and understanding. “Does Dean know?”

Cass nodded. “We discussed many things today. He also enlightened me on the importance of celebrating the beginning of a relationship.”

Sam squinted while he tried to parse that into plain English. “What? The beg—Oh. You mean anniversaries?”

“Apparently they are most important in increments of five.” Cass reached out to pull Sam back into his embrace. Sam went easily and settled against Cass’s chest. “I’m surprised you never mentioned it.”

Sam shrugged. “Dates like that—birthdays, anniversaries—most of them carry bad memories for me. Besides, there’s always been so much going on that it didn’t seem that important, not like other things.”

Cass let his curiosity into his tone. “Other things?”

“You know. All the things we do when we’re actually together. Like this.”

“And intercourse.”

Sam chuckled. “Yeah, that too.” He twisted so he could catch Castiel’s lips.

Cass growled and pulled him tighter. Discussing their anniversary could wait.

Dean was drinking whiskey in the kitchen when Mary got home. He didn’t say anything, just raised his glass in acknowledgement.

“Hey. How are you?”

He assumed he looked like crap. Or maybe she just assumed the worst since he was drinking alone. “Fine. Just found out Sam is dating.”

Mary’s eyes widened. “Does he sleep at all? I didn’t think he’d have the time to find someone.”

Dean laughed brightly. It felt good after fighting with Sam all day. “Honestly? No, I don’t think he sleeps. But it’s Cass, so it’s not like he had to find time to go out to bars.”

Mary sank into the seat opposite Dean. “Sam is dating Cass?”

“You didn’t know either. That—actually does make me feel better.” He took a big swallow of his whiskey and winced at the burn. He lifted the bottle to refill his glass and offered it to her.

She waved it off. “I didn’t know Sam was like that.” Her voice was small.

He was a little drunk, so he wasn’t quite following her thread of the conversation. “Yeah, apparently they have been together for five years. Anniversary is tomorrow. I’m helping Cass plan something, but I have no idea what to get them as a gift.”

“It doesn’t bother you?” she asked.

“Sammy and Cass? Nah. I mean, I’m still kind of pissed that they never freaking said anything for five years, but that’s about it. Sam could do way worse. Has. Dude seriously has a thing for monsters though.”

“Do I want to know?” she said.

He shook his head and took a drink. “You really don’t. I mean, I liked Madison too. We didn’t find out she was a werewolf until later. But Ruby. That one was—” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway. Why, does it bother you?” There wasn’t any accusation in his tone, but his senses were starting to wake up. Like he might have to defend Sam.

She gave him a tight smile. “Things are so different these days. I forget sometimes. But he’s my son, and I will always love him. You’re right, he could do much worse than Castiel.”

Dean hesitated, weighing her words, then nodded. “Help me think of a gift for them?” He grinned at her, and she smiled warmly back.

Sam entered the dark kitchen and was startled when he realized it was occupied. Castiel was waiting by the table, trench coat conspicuously missing. On the table were some of the plain white candles they kept for spells, arranged in a cluster and lit. The lights were off, leaving the room lit by a soft glow. Something that smelled heavenly was served on the table. Sam knew what this looked like, but he couldn’t quite believe it.

“Cass, what is this?” His voice was softer than he expected.

Castiel smiled broadly. “Happy anniversary, Sam.”

“You cooked?” Sam asked.

“Dean cooked. He planned all of this. I merely agreed to let him do it.” Cass tugged on one of Sam’s hands, pulling him closer. “I thought it was time you had some good memories associated with our anniversary.”

“Thank you.” Sam smiled and brushed his lips against Cass’s.

Dinner was amazing, which wasn’t all that surprising since Dean had cooked it. What was more surprising was that Sam realized this was the first proper date they’d had in the whole five years they’d been together. “This was really nice, Cass,” he said.

Cass grinned. “Yes, it was. Dean also informed me that we have the entire bunker to ourselves for the night, and that after dinner I should take you in the library.”

Sam nearly choked on his bite of cheesecake at Castiel’s phrasing, though he was pretty sure the angel hadn’t meant it that way. “The whole bunker? Where is everyone?”

“Hunting, mostly, I believe. Dean and Mary have acquired motel rooms for the night. Jack is with them. And Dean has instructed everyone to check in with them instead of you until tomorrow.”

Just then, Sam’s phone buzzed in his pocket. His eyes widened as he scrambled for his phone. It had been silent all evening and he hadn’t even noticed. This was why he’d never made a big deal out of going on dates or celebrating anniversaries. He could barely handle turning his brain off long enough to get laid. Longer than that and someone was liable to get hurt. He pulled his cell out as he felt Castiel’s hands cover his.

“Everyone is safe, Sam. Dean is taking care of your hunters. You have the night off. Please, can we enjoy it?”

Sam took a deep breath. “Yeah. We can. But I did get a message. Can I?” The earnestness and love he saw in Cass’s eyes were almost painful. He didn’t deserve it.

Cass nodded agreement, and he checked his phone. One message from Dean, confirming everyone had made their check-ins. Everything was fine. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

After a moment, Cass took his hand and led him toward the library. Sam was about to say something, when he spotted a package sitting on one of the tables. He automatically reached for the note laying on top of it. He was expecting it to be from Dean, given the lengths to which his brother had apparently gone to give them a nice anniversary. Sure enough, Dean’s neat handwriting fill the sheet.

Sorry I was such a jerk earlier. It’s not everyday my little brother celebrates a milestone like this, especially with the lives we lead. I know things have been pretty rough the last couple years, and Mom helped me realize you’ve probably spent more time apart than you have together. Knowing our luck, that’s probably going to continue. Hopefully this makes future separations easier. –Dean

“Wow. This looks weirdly sincere,” Sam said, turning to hand the note to Cass.

Castiel hummed and wrapped Sam in a hug. “I believe Dean mentioned something about taking you in the library. Can it be time for that now?”

Sam chuckled and opened the gift, determined to tease Cass just a little longer. When he finally got a good look at the package, he froze.

Cass piped up from over his shoulder. “I do not understand. What is a Clone-a-Willy kit?”

Sam privately thought he was going to kill Dean. Then again, it had been an amazing night so far. Maybe he would let Dean off the hook, just this once.