#i'm not a machine that spits out lore on command

[birlwrites]

ok let me rephrase a post i made a little while ago - if my askbox is open, that's an invitation to send asks! don't worry about whether i've asked for them or not - me having asks enabled is me saying 'i'm down to receive random asks rn'

that being said, i have in fact closed my askbox for now. i've recently been getting a lot of questions with the potential for very, very long answers, either because they're broad questions, questions with a lot of parts, or because they ask about many characters. i'm feeling overwhelmed, so i'm going to keep my askbox closed until i feel ready to receive more questions.

i want to be clear that when i give a long response to an ask, it can *easily* take me upwards of an hour, often more like two. people often ask questions i don't have fully-developed answers for, and it may seem like i know all of this off the top of my head, but i really don't. a question that takes you 30 seconds to write might require me to consult my lore document, check the fic to see if i've said anything specific there, do additional research and worldbuilding if i think there are gaps in what i already have, maybe find reference images and previous posts i've made on the topic, and then take all of that and turn it into something readable. i cannot just copy-paste from my lore document; that text isn't going to make sense to anyone other than me.

and i do want people to ask questions! i love talking to you, and it makes me happy to know that people care about the story i'm creating. it was difficult for me to decide to close my askbox, even temporarily, because there are so many wonderful things that have come out of random stuff you've sent me

so this is me saying - when you send me an ask (in the future, when i reopen my askbox), please take a moment to think about what you're asking me to do. just because i enjoy answering them doesn't mean it's not a lot of work sometimes, and just because i often provide detailed responses doesn't mean it's simple for me. i have to make decisions about where to invest my time and energy.

i'll make a post when i reopen my askbox, whenever that ends up being - in the meantime, i hope everyone is having a good new year!