Afraid I bricked my MBP 2014 trying to upgrade to Monterey

Hoping to maybe get some advice here. I was following Mr. Macintosh's guide via Youtube on installing Monterey. I didn't have a thumb drive so I opted to use my (brand new) External HD (seagate). I formatted it just as you would a thumb drive. Once I made it to the 'reboot' then install portion of the process, the OPT key on my keyboard didn't take me into Startup Manager, so I ended up having to revert to using my actual MBP ( I usually keep my MBP closed & just work from a keyboard & a dual display).

I should have done the 'erase & fresh install option' but I was in a pinch with not having another drive to clone my HD disk. I couldn't get Time Machine to work because it only recognizes my older External HD (which was stolen) so I figured at this point, I have to try to the 'upgrade over Big Sur' option.
Well, I realized after about an hour, the install was not progressing beyond '12mins remaining'.
I rebooted & tried the exact steps again, left for another hour or so..no progress at the '19mins remaining' mark.

I really loved my older MBP 2014 & I feel like Mr. Macintosh is really knowledgeable & reliable; I'm pretty sure I used his videos to upgrade to Big Sur (maybe).
Nevertheless, my MBP won't boot into the orginal OS (I tried without the HD connected), Monterey won't install, & I feel like every reboot only risks corrupting the install file or worse. Is it over for my 2014? I'm fairly tech savvy but I have no clue on how to

submitted by /u/ORyantheHunter24
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