eternally 30, self-identifying with she/they (but not picky), living under a rock (though my heart lives in Venice). Writing fanfiction since 2002 & still going strong.
(Since I’ve actually been opening some tumblr pages on mobile browser & got annoyed with how many things DON’T WORK on it, I realised I should...probably bring my about me page from a page to an actual post. ^^; Also, gonna go ahead and pin it.)
Hi, I’m Batsutousai, but answer to most nickname variations (I understand my name isn't really easy to spell at a glance), most notably Bats, Batsu, and Batty.
I self-identify with she/they, but I don't particularly care what pronouns are used for me. I'm asexual and demi-romantic. When I turned 30, I decided I will be 30 for the rest of my life. (Given the number of people irl who think I've only just graduated high school, it'll be a while before this stops working.)
I am American, but I've spent quite a few years in British fandoms, and it shows in my spelling and some of my turns of phrase. I don't, necessarily, do it on purpose (except to make my mum twitchy), but I also don't go out of my way to correct myself, unless I'm writing from the point of view of an American character.
I first started posting fanfic back in 2002, under the name Katmon, and while you can find some of that on AO3, most of it has (thankfully) vanished into the ether. After a bad breakup and a brief hiatus, I began writing under the name Batsutousai in 2004, and have no intention to change names again (even if some of the ‘04 stuff’s kinda crap, imo).
While I have a preference for male/male ships in fandom, what little original stuff I’ve done tends to be female-centric. You can find a list of all my ships here, on my writing tumblr.
In 2012, I became a Tag Wrangler for AO3, and while I fairly regularly bitch about ‘tumblr-style’ freeforms and weird ships, I actually really love the work. Unfortunately, I had to quit it summer of 2020, because I couldn't make the time while working retail during the pandemic, but I fully intend to pick it up again, once life settles back down.
I’m happy to talk about my experiences as a tag wrangler, and I don’t really hide what fandoms I wrangled for (Digimon, FMA, Radiata Stories, & some minor fandoms), but I DO NOT speak for the tag wrangling team or the archive as a whole. (I also don’t out other wranglers.)
In real life, I’m currently living with my younger sister, work at a family-owned local repair company (currently answering phones, but being transitioned into more of an admin assistant job), & occasionally catsit from some friends. I have an Etsy shop, where I sell crocheted things (nothing up there right now, because it costs money to keep things listed, & I don't sell enough to excuse the constant cost).
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Some FAQs:
When is (name WiP series/fic here) updating?
When it does?
Look, I get that you really, really like that series/fic – I do, too – and I’ve probably reread it fairly recently, to see if my muse will behave, but he’s a little shit, and every time someone asks about an update for any particular fic, that makes him LESS LIKELY to give me ideas for it. I’m happy to hear all about how much you like it, but asking about updates is more likely to keep one from happening.
Will you write a sequel for this fic?
My answer 99% of the time: No.
If I said somewhere there will be a sequel, yes. Eventually. Otherwise, NO.
Can I do a translation or podfic of your work?
You can indeed! I do request that you let me know when/where it’s posted, so I can add it to my list of such works!
*With some cautions; I have a list on LJ/DW of pieces that currently have translations; please speak to the translators in question if you want to continue something unfinished, as it’ll be easier for everyone to communicate in their (I assume) native tongue, than for me to play go-between.
**I don’t have a listing yet of podfics, mostly because the only ones I’m aware of, are either linked through AO3, or I don’t have a public link for.
Can I make fanart/fanfic/moodboard/etc based on one of your fics?
You absolutely may!
Please do add a note somewhere (in the post/author’s note) or, on AO3, use the inspired by option, to link back to the fic that’s serving as your inspiration. & then feel free to let me know!
Can I create a physical copy of your work for my personal use?
Yes, you may. I have nothing against folks saving copies of my work for personal use, be that in the form of old-school 3-ring binders, digital copies on kindle and similar devices, or through the increasingly common hobby of book-binding.
You don't have to show me what they look like when you're done, but you're welcome to.
Do you take requests?
For fanfic? Not really. I sometimes reblog those ‘give me a fandom/pairing/character(s) and a number and I’ll write the thing’ memes, but I can’t guarantee I’ll write everything I get.
Will you follow me back?
I don’t do follow-backs, sorry. Which is mostly because I have a thing about needing people to tag – the only people I follow who don’t tag are rl friends who post rarely, or folks who only reblog a specific fandom – and I prefer people who queue things, because I’m not fond of poking my head in and finding my TL taken over by one person (esp if they’re posting for a fandom I’m not interested in :/ I’m afraid I’m a bit of a crabby old person, not sorry).
What do you tag for?
Right now, I tag for fandom/character/ship, food, USA nonsense, politics, personal posts, and video/audio. I’m kinda bad about remembering to tag triggers, but if you’ve got one you need tagged, let me know and I’ll make a concerted effort. (For example, I tag for food because someone asked me to tag for it.)
Hey, I really like your work! Can I send you money?
You can, actually! You can buy me a tea via ko-fi, or go a bit more long-term and support me on patreon (where I post stalled WiPs and related snippets/fic notes you may never see anywhere else).
I want to show you this thing!
If you’re posting it yourself, tag me in one of the first five of the post’s tags (I follow batsutousai). If it’s a reblog, you can @ tag me. (I did finally figure out how to get tumblr to send me email notifications about those.)
I don’t allow submissions, sorry.
I have another question.
Send me a DM or ask! Anon is always on, if you want to keep your identity a secret from me, and I rarely respond to asks from users publicly.
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I would actually go as far as to say that MOST abuse is unintentional. I think most people will go through their lives without ever experiencing intentional abuse. People are abusive because they're selfish, because they're stressed, because they care more about what society thinks they should do than the impacts of their actions on their children and partners, because they think what they're doing is correct, because they've made it make sense in their own heads, because they think they can fix their victims, they think they can fix their relationships, they think they can stop you from leaving, they think they can make you a better partner to them, they think that means you need to do what they want. We've sort of constructed mental illness in a way that doing this shit to other people counts as a form of mental illness because it is anti social behavior in the literal sense— it is behavior that causes social harm.
I don't say any of this to excuse it. I think everyone needs to be more aware of this because if you think abuse has to be intentional you will never realize you are capable of abusive behavior. You will never realize you are being shitty to the people you love, because YOU know what you mean, YOU know you don't mean any harm. But you're doing harm. You need to pay attention to the impact you have on other people, and you need to do it all the time, Especially when you feel least capable of doing so. Sorry! You live in a society. Get your head out of your ass.
The world is oftentimes such an ugly place, but sometimes it can be so beautiful.
Like, when two choirs, one from Croatia and the other from Zimbabwe, met on the opposite sides of a Lisbon subway station and both sang to each other.
I unfortunately do not know what the Zimbabwe children choir sang to them (although it was so beautiful), but the Croatian klapa Kastav sang 'Kuća puna naroda' (a house full of people).
And let my reward be a house full of people,
my life, give me a voice, so I can embrace you with songs.
Unfriendly reminder that if you're displeased with a piece of fanfiction your courses of action are:
Read something else
Bitch PRIVATELY to friends
Write your own take on the premise (strongly recommend!)
All of the above
Under no circumstances should you try to "politely" critique the author who put the story up as a hobby. For free. Especially if the story in question is multiple years old. Ao3 is not Goodreads
Even if the writer in question never finds out what you said, you can never know who else might quietly think "oh but I have done the same thing in my own story, I guess it sucks too", and there could always be someone whose wip from the similar premise you are just bitching about would get abandoned because of your words.
Don't be the dick who shits on someone's creativity and ruins their fun.
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It occurred to me that I'd never actually drawn these two together, so I decided fixing that would be a good way to end Pride Month.
[Image Description: Digital artwork of Xena and Gabrielle, shown from the waist up. Xena wears her standard armor, while Gabrielle has her short hair and red-and-brown outfit from Season 5. Xena is dipping Gabrielle in a kiss, and Gabrielle has one hand cupping the back of Xena's head while the other is flung across her shoulders. /end ID]
Also I get the sense that very few people in DC are aware that federal officials wrote detailed analyses warning of the air quality health risks of the enormous 850K fireworks set to go off — and that the admin did not release those findings to the public
I mean, generally speaking, fireworks shows are awful for the air quality. I think it was last year, I was watching the air quality gauge jump from orange to red pretty much as the show was starting. We're starting out with red because of how hot it is, of course we're going to jump to purple, probably even with a standard show.
I'm actually hoping it gets cancelled because of the expected thunderstorms, or it gets too smoky to see, so they stop early. The latter option still fucks up our air quality, but at least it's only a partial, and hopefully having got a big old 'fuck you' from Mother Nature both times he's tried this big-ass fireworks show, he won't try to reschedule. (I can hope.)
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Thought crimes of course aren’t real but uh. We know those aren’t just thoughts anymore once you’ve posted them publicly, yeah?
Then they’re just crimes.
sure, fictional crimes since nothing happened and no one was hurt. should we put the fictional handcuffs on? "sorry, you wrote about murder which is illegal, go spend 20 years in mind jail"
It's *about* the bullying. It is not and never was about the morality of depicting cannibalism or whatever in a work of fiction, it's about making up an excuse to get away with attacking people on the internet, often because "they're queer" is no longer a socially acceptable reason for violence in fannish circles.
you never know what someone is going through. for instance i didnt know i was going through anything until about 2 years later. i thought i was just chilling
I don't know who needs to hear this but your brain is lying to you and you don't need to wait until there's a round number on the clock to go the fuck to bed or start that project or eat a meal.
There is a German art group called Pataphysical Institute Basel that I collaborated with on an art festival a few years ago, and one of their things was that they wanted everything done in "Pataphysical time" which in practice meant that nothing should be scheduled to start at exactly on the hour or half past the hour, and instead the start time should be something weird like three minutes past etc.
That was surprisingly helpful and I have since then been on "Pataphysical time" like I don't place special importance on any specific position of the hands of the clock.
This is the Veil Nebula, which Hubble saw on July 1, 2020.
Have you ever looked up what our Hubble Space Telescope saw on your birthday? (Or your anniversary, or your pet's adoption day, or...)
We've given our popular interactive page a new look — and, just as importantly, it now shows you five different cosmic sights Hubble was checking out on the day that you picked.
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you know what really helps you locate any small paper cuts you might have forgotten you have? putting your hand in a bucket of acid. cool things I learned today
I buy citric acid crystals in bulk and mix them with water to make a bath for cleaning aquarium equipment. and then sometimes I reach in with my bare hand to take things out because I am fundamentally the kind of person who would do that
Credit card companies will TRY to saddle you with this kind of debt by the way - if ever a loved one dies and you are not co-signed on their credit card, do NOT agree to pay their debt unless you ask a lawyer first if you truly have to.
They will say “don’t you want them to go to the grave without debt”, they will try to guilt you, they will take advantage of your vulnerability.
Source: when my father died, he had some credit cards that my mom wasn’t on that she had no access to. The companies contacted her while she was sorting through the bills and getting a handle on how to run the house alone, badgering her with his credit card debt.
She wasn’t liable for any of it, but if she had ever agreed to pay before finding out that she didn’t need to, she would have been considered to have taken on his debt and would have HAD to pay it. It’s slimy, it’s predatory, and it’s entirely legal for them to do this.
Never accept the credit card company’s word about your obligation to pay anyone else’s debt, if you don’t have access to the card, ask a lawyer before agreeing to anything.
Ok, I'm not an estate lawyer disclaimer blah blah locations all have different laws blah blah BUT a couple months back I started to get overly worried I will likely die still owing money some day, with a negative "net worth" whateverwhatever. I only care that my niblings could get harassed about bills of mine, and I would HATE THAT.
What I found by doing a bunch of research, talking to a family lawyer I know, and a wealth planner, is accurate to what's up thread. Those who I am a debtor w/ can/will take what they can from "my estate." They can/will try to chase down payments.
But when said estate (lol) is all gone, that's it. They can TRY to contact my niblings about bills, but basically they'll just need to be like "Auntie who????" and/or ignore it fully and not pay a cent and they can't be held responsible.
While we're on this topic, don't forget: even with credit card debts or medical bills that are yours, when you can't pay they go in collections, the collections company is very very likely to settle w/ you for pennies on the dollar. I once paid $500 for a hospital bill that originally came to me over $6k.
