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.
in the past i've described my experience of being an ace with a sex drive as being hungry with no appetite, but actually my experience is more like being hungry and never going out to eat because i always have all the tools and ingredients to make exactly what i want, exactly how i want it, at home. i don't want other people in my kitchen and i certainly don't want to be in anyone else's kitchen. love reading about fictional kitchens, though.
Image description: Reddit thread in ChatGPT, posted by the user Ambtion-Garbage-73, with the header I mass deleted 3 months of AI generated code last week. Here is what I learned. The post reads
Three months of building a side project almost entirely with AI assistance. ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, the works. Shipped fast, felt productive, everything seemed fine.
Then I needed to ass a feature that touched most of the codebase. And I realized I could not do it. Not because it was hard, but because I did not actually understand how my own project worked.
The AI had generated clean looking code with consistent patterns, but the patterns were not mine. I could not trace the logic from memory. I could not explain to someone else why a function was structured the way it was. Every time I tried to modify something I had to re-read everything like it was someone else's code. Because it was.
So I deleted about 70% of it and rewrote it from scratch. Took two weeks. The result is simpler, half the lines of code, and I actually understand ever piece of it.
since ppl are raising awareness about hearing loss, id like to add that tinnitus is not a karmic punishment for carelessness, and can be caused by several different overlapping things. do not moralize your health or u will die. message to myself, mostly.
sounds very similar to a radio story i heard in 2014 ago about credit card debt. the debt got sold to a collection company and a couple received a court summons. they knew they had taken on debt, but they were confused about who this new company was and where specifically the number they were supposed to owe came from.
they show up in court and just ask the lawyer for the collection company: can you prove where this number comes from? Do you have a contract showing that you purchased our debt? probably luckily for them, a reporter researching a book on the topic showed up and asked the same questions.
10 minutes later they get in front of the judge and the collection company drops the whole case and theyre free to go. story is below, it has a transcript in the link too
Ira talks to reporter Jake Halpern about a scene he saw take place in a Georgia courtroom where a couple uttered some magic words that seeme
Alert citizen of Bitch Nation @sobekcrocodile brought this to our attention and we're sharing, but with a caveat:
WE HAVE NOT YET LOOKED INTO THIS.
... but holy shit it's worth pursuing if you're drowning in debt and these are your circumstances. I'll definitely be adding this to the Big List of Future BGR Topics. Here's more of our advice on debt:
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about How to Pay off Debt
This only works with private student loans NOT FEDERAL!!!! The government has the right to transfer your student loans between contracted servicer's per your MPN
