#i'd prefer the original but yeah. this was 6 bucks

[poorlymanufacturedgirl]

um epic shoutout to sony for keeping their online storefronts for 17 year-old consoles alive

[purplekoop]

Alright I'm in that mood that comes and goes where I try and pretend I have craft skills and wonder how I'd make custom figures for the Overwatch cast that doesn't have one, and wondering about who I'd do first, Symmetra comes to mind often. She's one of the few launch heroes to not have anything that fits a six-inch articulated figure scale, along with Mei, Roadhog, and Winston (Torb and Bastion also count if you're picky about style). Of those though, Symmetra's by far the one that sounds the most achievable, considering she's the only one of that bunch that has a body type that's easy enough to find in action figure form to work as a base. She's also a character that in general gets a lot less attention than I wish she did, so the fact she has basically no merch besides the funko pop (again, she's the only OW1 launch hero to hold that status) kinda just rubs salt in that wound.

So, okay, Symmetra's probably gonna be my first custom Overwatch figure should I ever get the time, skills, and resources to attempt such a feat. I can at least plan now though, so here's my thought process ramble on how I'd do it.

Let's start off by looking at Symmetra's art. I'd kind of prefer her OW2 design aesthetically, but in practice I'd rather do her OW1 look just because it's both simpler and it matches all the other existing 6 inch scale figures. Here's both designs for reference:

In general, OW2 designs are a little more "advanced" than OW1, which for a novice figure maker is something I'd rather avoid if I can. The big distinction is what's probably the most notorious "mmmmm" choice of her original look, the dumb exposed upper legs. I remember a semi-common critique of her was "is it dress code for architects in the future to dress like that", which like. Yeah no it was dumb, and the full pants just make more sense.

Now, to be honest, it wouldn't be hard to go either way on what to do with that part. I could take a creative liberty and just make the whole legs a solid black color, or I could be more accurate and have the exposed thighs. In favor of the thighs, it would make a convenient spot to put a thigh swivel while looking relatively seamless. In fact, the gold part could be the seam.

For reference, here's my Genji. Good figure, but his legs have this very conspicuous disconnect when you twist the thigh swivel to get more leg articulation. It's a nitpick over a compromise made to form to add to function, but it's something that sticks out if you want something to complain about.

So basically, my thought in defense of the exposed thighs is that I instead play it into the function of the articulation since the thigh is already split visually. But then again, I could also just go with entirely black legs, and the thigh swivel still wouldn't stick out much, so. Yeah idk, either way there's options. Just something that came to mind.

Alright let's back up from thigh talk now before it gets too weird, and go onto more general notes. Symmetra is apparently 5'7" tall, which is the exact same height as Mercy.

Actually... now that I think about it... Mercy and Symmetra have a number of similarities in their outfits too. They both have heels, some kind of cloth thing hanging in front of their legs... Honestly, in lieu of better options, I think the Hasbro Mercy figure would be a solid base for the body, at the very least the legs, though I'd need to figure out how to make a new skirt out of a similarly bendy material anyways. I'd have to do a lot of part removal in general, and the upper body isn't exactly ideal, but I could see about snatching the legs at least. I see some listings for Mercy and Pharah for 14 bucks, so it's not like it'd cost a whole lot. even if it doesn't lead anything but a mutilated Mercy figure.

...shoot, I could probably even use Mercy's blaster as a base for Symmetra's gun too, the handle mechanism at the very least would be pretty convenient... even if not Mercy's blaster, I have an extra Tracer I could steal a spare pistol from too, but. Yeah this is a ramble post, if that wasn't made clear yet.

Alright, what else is of note about Symmetra. Well, she's got two arms, one largely unclothed and the other being a prosthetic that seemingly acts as the source of her hard light technology. with a circular light coming out of her palm. The exposed arm should be pretty easy, but the prosthetic one is gonna have to be largely custom.

...or. is it.

I swear I'm uncovering a conspiracy here

Not a perfect match, the bicep thickness and the color especially on the Hasbro figure isn't that similar, but if I wanna be lazy then just snatching and repainting a Genji arm could be an option. The hands for that arm would need more work though, Genji's hand options aren't nearly classy enough for Symmetra's personality. I think Genji is also a fair bit harder to come by, at least based on a passing search. At that point, I might as well either look for a cheaper figure to steal from or just sculpt one myself

As for the body, it's gonna largely need to be custom work. I think just a standard feminine action figure without a lot of body detail like a Marvel Legends figure of any random female superhero with a simple skin-tight outfit would be ideal as a base, then I'd just build her upper outfit on top of it. The flowy parts of the outfit would need to be some kind of separate softer plastic piece. No clue what commercially available materials are out there that'd work like that, but it might be possible to find with some research. I could also be fancy and make it an actual cloth piece, but that feels like it might stick out awkwardly in a collection otherwise entirely made of plastic.

As for the head, I feel like it'd be ideal to find a base with matching hair more than anything else. Again, semi-flexible materials might be tricky to find, so finding a feminine head with that long, black hair already made would be more helpful than anything else. The only other thing of note is her visor, which would require some kind of translucent blue plastic. Lucio's Hasbro figure has a similar green plastic for his... shades? They're part of his headset thing too, and they both use Vishkar-based tech so... maybe they're the same kind of material in-universe too? I dunno, but I know that people have found translucent colored plastic that'd work perfectly for something like Symmetra.

Speaking of which, I'm definitely not stopping at just the character herself. After all, her whole playstyle revolves around chucking more junk onto the battlefield! So, accessories:

First up, the gun. Like I pointed out earlier, I'd probably use a Tracer pistol as the base for the handle, then bulk it up a bit to add though not sure what I'd do for the extra prong bits. If I'm clever, I could make some kind of mold for one of them, and then use it three times to create three identical pieces, but there's a lot of complex details that I don't know how much effort I'd want to put into it. Probably would keep the detailing and colors relatively basic like the Hasbro figures' weapons tend to be.

The Hasbro figures do tend to come with some sort of semi-transparent piece to emulate muzzle flashes or other effects though, so if I manage to crack the code on see-through blue plastic then I'll try to make a laser beam piece that can plug in and out of the center of her gun. Alternatively, I could also maybe try to make a transparent piece based on the kinds of transparent shapes she makes with her left arm, but that might be a bit hard to make not be too heavy to hold. She's already wearing heels, so balance is gonna be an issue for her.

So, now for the accessory so obvious even her Funko includes it: the Sentry Turrets. Which. Present a minor problem. See if you can spot the issue with this as a physical object:

See it's not a super complicated shape, mostly just a white spherical shape with a little flat part for the laser shooty part, and then three little supporting sections. And uh. They don't connect.

Really shouldn't be the hardest thing to figure out, there's usually a glowy blue effect that's implied to be what's supporting the turret in-game. I also wanna go the extra mile and add articulation to them, making it so it can angle the "head" up and down for more detail. If I'd really feel like being extra then I'd make it so the pieces have suction cups on the bottom or something they'd be able to stick to surfaces, but that part seems a little more effort than it might be worth, but it'd be cool if I could. I'd also make three, so ideally I'd have figured out how to use molds repeatedly, because I don't feel like making the same little leg part 9 times from scratch, or the head part 3 times.

Finally, there's the teleporter. This part feels the least "essential" to me, but I'd like to make it if I could.

Again, probably gotta figure out how to make the same piece over and over again for the "legs" of the base. As for the actual "entrance" part, I think I'd print out a sticker or something onto a transparent thin piece of plastic instead of making it in 3D, since... I mean I think the in-game visual is just a 2D texture that always faces the viewer's camera directly the same way. It'd be really cool if the "legs" could fold up and down like they do for the in-game animation, but that means making an articulation system in addition to making the whole thing symmetrical enough to look good, and on top of that the teleporter wouldn't exactly make much sense if there was only one of them, so... yeah I might pass on the teleporters actually, unless I could find someone willing to print and ship 3D models of the bases.

So yeah, that's just me thinking out loud how I hope to tackle the task of making a custom Symmetra action figure. Unless something more beginner-friendly comes to mind, this'll probably be the first custom figure I try and make, so once I get some spare cash to put towards materials then I'll probably try and give it a shot. Materials would include fodder figure parts to act as the base, sculpting materials, and paints, all of which I need to do further research on what exactly would be ideal to get. Stay tuned for 2025 when I finally show her off!

[prolix-yuy]

Writer Q&A

1) How many complete fics/one shots do you have that you have not published (yet)?

As of right now, 9. I'm a big editor of my work, so I like to pace publishing so that I have plenty of time to read (and re-read) and make edits before sending it into the ether.

2) How many WIPS do you have right now?

1 that's almost done, plus about 6ish ideas I'm waiting to sit down with.

3) Do you take writing requests or write original ideas, or both?

I haven't so far because I didn't think anyone would have one, but it's possible I'll open requests up for Sex Worker!Frankie which could be very fun. And if people sent in other requests I'd definitely take a look!

As for original stuff it's been a while, but I used to write a lot of short stories and novella-length stuff, a little bit of poetry too. Gothic fiction and Lovecraftian-style stories were always my favorites.

4) If you do take requests, how many do you currently have?

None right now, but that could change!

5) How many fandoms do you write for?

Right now on Tumblr just the PPCU, but there are some other fandoms that I've toyed with.

6) Are there any fandoms you wrote for in the past that you no longer write for?

LOTR was a big one, and some assorted animes not worth mentioning.

7) Do you write for ships, reader inserts or other?

Reader inserts. I'll read ships a ton, but I enjoy writing inserts more.

8) Niche fandoms/characters you write for?

If anyone has even heard of this, my first fandom was Gundam Wing and I wrote SO MUCH for those boys.

9) Do you read fics as well as write them?

Hell yeah. Reading fics on Tumblr was 100% why I decided to start writing again.

10) What is your favorite genre to write for?

Self-indulgent smut with feelings? I think that's what I'd call it.

11) What is your favorite trope (to read/write)?

To read: friends to lovers, somnophilia, sex pollen, first times

To write: sex THEN feelings, competency kink, slow burn, mutual pining

12) What do you do to get motivated to write?

Reading other people's stories is a great motivator, or taking a look through what I've done before to spark some inspo.

13) Is there a trope/genre you like to read, but not write?

Enemies to lovers is a great genre, but I don't feel skilled at portraying that dynamic.

14) Any characters/fandoms you want to write for that are never requested?

The Witcher just solidified that I'm hooked on lorge men who take care of children, so maybe there's something there if I want to take a walk around the block. But the PPCU has a lot of content to work with, so I'm pretty faithful to that right now.

15) How long have you been writing fanfiction?

Oh god, on Tumblr maybe like 3-4 months? But in life, probably about 20 years. I think I wrote my first fic when I was 10 or 11.

16) Did you read fanfiction before you started writing?

Oh totally, loads on AO3 and ff.net before that.

17) Do you only post on Tumblr, or any other sites as well?

AO3 as well!

18) What do you personally consider the word counts of “Drabble”, “One shots” and “fics”?

Drabble is like under 1k, one-shot is something around 5-10k with a finite ending, and I would argue "fics" encompasses one-shots too, but rolls up anything long form under that umbrella.

19) Which do you prefer to write more? HC, drabbles, oneshots/fics, multi chapter stories, other?

I've been going pretty hard on the multi-chapter story, but I also love a good one-shot.

20) Are there any stories you have discontinued? If so, why?

Recently no, but I definitely have stories I abandoned because canon made me not want to write it anymore. Or the story lost its shininess. But nothing as of late.

21) What is one of your main “pet-peeves” as a writer on Tumblr?

This is a peeve more for myself, and probably indicative of perfectionism, but I hate it when my navs don't link correctly or I realize it's hard for someone to find/organize my content. And when I buck up formatting.

22) Do you write at a particular time of day?

Between 10pm-1am and occasionally during lunch/right at the end of the work day if I'm feeling inspired.

23) Do you listen to music, ambiance/noise, etc. to write or do you need silence?

Nope, I get too distracted. I'll sometimes listen to musical inspo before or when I'm contemplating the story, but not while writing.

24) Do you outline your fics at all before writing?

No, I'm a stream-of-consciousness kind of gal. I start writing and get everything down, then go back and revise/move around/edit until I'm happy with the overall story.

25) Do you post your writing as soon as you finish it, or do you schedule it to come out at a specific time/day?

I hold onto my fics like they're vintage wine and will age with time. Purely because I like to put out a steady stream of content and if I have a bunched banked up I can be writing one thing while posting another.

I do like posting on Tuesdays, because no one likes Tuesdays and it's something fun to look forward to, and Fridays, because it's like a kickoff into the weekend.

No tags, do this if you want to!!!!

[a-singer-of-songs]

When I was last on this website regularly, over half the people I follow had different names and reblogged things I was familiar with and liked and I haven't even heard of half of the stuff they're reblogging now and it's just very confusing and obviously I either need to catch up or follow new people but I don't like change.

Anyway, here's one of my cats. His name is Bow. I may already have introduced him, but my memory is shit so I'm doin' it again. See, while some people adopted an animal or fostered one during the pandemic, I fostered 6. One of the barn cats, who I can Artemis, had 5 kittens, and to save them and avoid having this problem next year, I stole them away to my house so I could get Artemis fixed once the kittens were weaned and get the kittens fixed and adopted out. Aurora went first, the only girl, and a precious little calico, to my neighbor. Then went Renfield Turnbull, to a work friend whose daughter was begging for a kitten. Peter Parkour, Stanley Ray Kowalski, and Buck Frobisher stayed with me the longest. I had decided originally to keep Ray, because I saved him from inside one of the walls at the barn at 4 weeks old and figured that was just a Sign. My coworker's sister said she'd adopt the last two fosters I wasn't keeping, once I'd gotten them fixed. By then, they'd been out with my 3 resident adult cats and the young, enthusiastic muppet in a dog suit, and Buck and Finn had somehow become best friends while Peter and Ray preferred each other. So I decided it made sense for the lone kitten staying with me to be Buck, not Ray, because Ray and Peter would be happier together. They went to their new home, and Buck stayed here, which was funny, because he was FULLY feral the first month and a half of his life and would not let me touch, speak, or look at him. Then all of a sudden (I honestly think it was Finn's doing) he became this loveable, cuddly little kitten who just likes to snuggle and be petted when he's not actively bouncing off the walls or napping. Like, y'all, when we caught this little shit at the barn, my vet tech friend and I, he BIT THE SHIT out of me and I'm just lucky he had teensy tiny kitten teeth that physically could not do as much damage as he wanted to do.

He was gonna be named after Les Mis but I can't pronounce half those names and also I tried to imagine telling the vet "Yeah his name's Courfeyrac--no, I'll spell--you know what? Just put his name as like... "Small". That's his nickname," and chickened out. So his name is Bow, and everyone thinks he's either a girl or it's spelled Bo.

The Grown Ups don't love him, but he and the dog have a whole thing. It's honestly way too sweet and I hope neither of them ever grows out of it.

I'm not really sure there's much going on in that noggin of his, but he's sure cute. And very sweet.