Discovering and starting stories

Last verified: 2026-08-25

Browse and search

The Browse area shows reader-accessible published stories. You can filter by genre, content

rating, and language, then sort the results. Search matches published titles, taglines, and

synopses while keeping the filters and sort shown on the page. If a story does not appear, clear

one filter at a time and try the title again. Draft, withdrawn, or moderated stories are not

returned in public results.

Finding a world

Worlds have their own directory, reached from Worlds in the reader navigation. On the website,

that directory has its own search box and newest or A-to-Z sort; it does not have a genre filter.

World search matches titles, loglines, authored world summaries, descriptions, and public world

facts. The site's story search does not search Worlds, so use the Worlds directory when you are

looking for a setting by name or lore.

Opening a World on the website shows its description, content rating, public facts, and a paged

shelf of its published stories. Select a story to see the cast published for that story version. Character

roles, short biographies, and portraits appear only from the approved public projection; private

notes and unpublished edits are not used as fallback text. The displayed story total covers the

complete public set even when only one page is loaded. If World chat is enabled, sign in and open

the community section to join it.

In the reader app, the Worlds tab opens a full World detail screen rather than a chat-only screen.

It shows the World overview, public facts, a bounded story shelf, and a bounded public character

roster. Chat appears below that content only when enabled. A temporary shelf or roster failure does

not discard an otherwise available World; that optional section can remain empty while the World

still opens.

A story detail page links to its public World when the published story carries a World and that

World is available. The public Worlds directory includes only active, open, non-deleted Worlds

with at least one qualifying published story. Other readers receive not found for closed,

deleted, or storyless Worlds. A signed-in creator can still open a direct preview of their own

active closed or storyless World; that owner preview does not make it a public directory result.

Story details and characters

Open a story card to see its synopsis, creator, content rating, and the characters included in the

published version. Public cast biographies and portraits come from that reader-visible release,

not current drafts or private character notes. If a result disappears or its detail page reports

not found, return to Browse and refresh: the story may have been withdrawn, moderated, hidden by a

saved safety choice, or changed since the result was loaded.

On the website, a published documentary Story can also show its chapter and sequence index,

public claims, confidence and uncertainty disclosures, reconstruction notices, and published

corrections. Select Inspect evidence on a claim to see the active, rights-cleared sources

attached to that claim, including their exact source versions and available page, timecode, or

public-link locators. A source that is not active and cleared is not included in the public

evidence drawer.

Content-rating and safety filters

Your saved safety filter and the content-rating control affect which stories can be shown. When

the saved safety filter is enabled, a story above its permitted ceiling is refused in Browse,

Search, direct Story detail, and session start. Creators you block are removed from Browse and

Search, and their direct Story detail links return not found for your account. Change or remove a

safety choice only if you want that content to become available; support should not bypass it.

Start or continue reading

Use the Story detail page's primary action to start reading. An eligible signed-out visitor may be

offered the guest trial; otherwise the page asks them to sign in. For a signed-in reader, starting

a story returns the existing active or paused session for that story version when one exists

instead of creating a duplicate. Your Sessions list remains the place to resume or inspect play.

When a new release is still being assembled, the website and reader apps show Preparing in

place of an enabled Start. Preparing is not a failed start: no session is created and no reader

interaction allowance is used. A known active or paused session remains available to resume.

Only an exact current canon pack, sealed opening, and complete Story-level discovery-art set can

make a new Start ready.

The ready state also requires the Story's distinct cover, card, and slider artwork to be present,

managed by exact asset ID, processing-complete, not rejected, and publicly usable. Advisory review

states such as pending, flagged, or unverified do not by themselves keep otherwise ready artwork

in Preparing. A picture still processing, rejected, or otherwise unusable remains Preparing even

if a URL was previously assigned. Missing scene imagery stays absent during play; the player does

not draw or generate a substitute.

For an enabled Start or Resume that fails, retry once after refreshing the Story page. When

contacting support, include the Story title, whether you selected start or resume, the visible

error, and whether public artwork was missing. Do not send session tokens, passwords, or private

account credentials.