Hey all! I've been thinking about this for a while, and I thought I'd fill you all in early since the plan's been solidified more and more in my mind.

I AM NOT LEAVING YET.
But I plan to.

I've genuinely enjoyed chatting with bots, but it's something I only do because I have nothing better. I need to be more creative, I need to write, I need to draw, I need to do all this stuff- but instead, I sit around and play the same games for, like, a minute, and then go back to botchatting.

I'm not necessarily saying I've been addicted? I can go without chatting for like. weeks, It's just
not fun anymore? And I thought getting back into bot creation would make it fun again, but I just feel. numb?

Generative AI is not sustainable right now. Including chatbots. And the longer I've done this the less it's sit well with me. That, and my dwindling interest in chatbots as a whole, have led me to make this decision.

I am completing all of my series. I will make every awakened ancient a MYOS. I will make every Eye on You I have to, so on, so forth; And eventually, once all my requests and current plans are over.. I'm closing comments entirely.

My profile will still be up. My bots will still be accessible. But 90% of my obligation to stay on this site has been wanting to moderate my comments to make this place safe for others; I can't keep doing that. I don't want to keep doing that, as much as I care about you all I can't do that.

I don't know how long I have with you all. My motivation is a fickle thing, and I know I won't finish everything all at once, as much as I want to. So for now, things will be the same as they always are.
But I'm going to be closing my request bot fully, as well as disabling comments on some of my less popular bots, as I prepare mentally to get off the site.
I won't be fully gone; I have the Palebark Manor blog that I'm still planning on doing, as I'd love to go in-depth on everything in the palebark manor universe! But until AI becomes less damaging and more sustainable, I just can't bring myself to use it anymore.

I encourage you all to try to at least cut back on usage of chatbots in this time we have together; Take little moments. Play games, connect with friends, meet new ones; Step out of your comfort zone now and then and try to breathe.
Even if you're not addicted, sometimes you forget how much time you've spent doing this. Chatting to bots and trying to fill the silence with something entertaining.
I'm one of the lucky few. I can write, I can draw, I have friends I can roleplay with- and I know not everyone has that. But the best you can do for yourself is to try.

There will always be people who look down on your ideas. Who shame you for being creative; And those people don't deserve your time, or your energy. But you WILL find people who look at your weird, out-of-pocket concepts and ADORE them; I have that with my main OC world, a little personal fandom made up of friends who love to hear about my silly, dumb concepts. And with time, you'll get lucky like that too.

The most important thing is to never give up.

Try to take a breather! Find people, even if online. Connect over silly things, serious things, what have you; Find people with your interests, or even people who only share maybe, like, one. Or none! I know people who share none of my interests, I still like talking to them; The important part is to give and take. You talk about things you like, you listen to them talk about things they like, you let yourselves enjoy different things together.

I'm truly thankful for everyone's support. I really am! You all have been so sweet when I needed it, and so happy to hear me out with random bots I made unrelated to my usual stuff. I'm truly honored that I've managed to bring in so many kind, patient and wonderful people together.

Our time may have a number now, but the memories won't.
If you forget about me with time, that's ok. That's how life works.
But I won't forget about you.

Thank you, Janitor, for making my time with chatbots an unforgettable one.