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.
getting scambot messages from random accounts that clearly used to be normal active blogs is sad enough. you know that there used to be a real person on that blog until they were tricked into handing their password to the digital fae.
but it's an entirely new level of tragic when somebody you've actually spoken to gets turned into a bot account. it's like peeking at a zombie apocalypse through the window and realizing one of the shambling corpses was your friend.
and then the zombie catches sight of you, lurches up to your window, and shouts through the glass that they accidentally reported your account to tumblr and you'll be deactivated unless you click this link.
RIP to the blog that used to DM me to tell me they liked my new chapters. Their last known words spoken before being turned, 17 hours ago: "Ggs!" They were praising someone's deadlift.
the message they tried to get me with is probably the same message that got them, so for anybody who hasn't already been warned about the signs of a zombie account:
if you get something like this ↑ they're gonna follow up by instructing you to contact tumblr support on discord and give you contact info; or they're gonna link a website that looks sort of like tumblr support and say you have to email them; or any variety of "you must now contact tumblr, here is how you contact tumblr."
whatever they send you, it Does Not lead to tumblr. it leads to the master zombie that bit them and inducted them into the ranks of the undead, and will bite you the second they have your email and password. i might be confusing zombies and vampires. anyway,
it's easier to fall for these messages because the blog doesn't LOOK like a bot blog, because it ISN'T a bot blog. it's a normal person's blog that got accessed by a bot, meaning the blog's content CLEARLY looks like a real active user when you click on it. and yes—it might even be a blog you already know. sometimes bots like this go down a blog's DMs or reblogs and message people they've previously interacted with.
they got one of my treasured followers, and they can get you too. don't fall for their tricks. know the signs.
quite callous how the general societal reaction to allegations of child abuse increasing in frequency seems to have been "all these millions of people are lying and faking on the internet for clout, parents are the only real protectors for children" instead of "perhaps there is something wrong structurally with how we treat children"
As a society, we need to go back to understanding that strangers on the internet are, you know, strangers. I feel lately that I'm seeing a rise in 'An author I love blocked me because they took my comment the wrong way' posts on the ao3 subreddit, and then the comment is them calling the author a fucking bitch or something like that.
Don't do this. Tone doesn't translate well in text, and if you don't have a rapport with that author, they are not going to interpret, 'You're a fucking bitch' as, 'Author I hate you for being so talented and making me feel so keenly.' They're going to interpret it as you being an asshole. You can shit talk with your friends because you have an established relationship with them and can distinguish between playful banter and genuine anger. You do not have this with a stranger, no matter how much you like their fics. You will have a much more pleasant time in fandom and not get cockblocked from interacting with your favorite writers if you remember this.
#I don't often see comments like these when I'm reading a fic but there have been a few that made me raise an eyebrow#I don't know if I would block over someone calling me a bitch on a fic I wrote but I'd probs try to gently tell them it's not right#coz honestly I feel like this is an issue with younger age groups who are new to reading fics and might not understand fandom culture#or at least I hope it's younger people who simply don't know better 😬#otherwise... yikes
This isn't some esoteric niche aspect of fandom culture, strangers at the potluck also do not like being called a fucking bitch.
