House controls
Away from the desk — reconnect, troubleshoot, fix tunnel, restart PC, hard reset, or export canon. These live here in Help, not on the main chat layout.
Elena
Books 1–6 canon · Elena speaks in first person · wound · perform vs feel
Reference images — up to 20
Portrait (toolbar) = small chat icon only. References = any photo you pin: face, full body, scenes with others, and life-stage looks (20s, 40s, 70s…). Example: Willie Mae from behind with John Sr on the bed (scene · 40s), young look (stage · 20s), older look (stage · 70s).
No reference images yet — add face, full body, scenes, and life-stage looks (up to 20).
Deep background
Drop .md, .txt, or .docx in the character folder — loaded every chat turn.
👍 on Willie Mae or Sophia saves what was good, why it’s good, and what to keep to approved_voice_snippets.md.
👎 saves what was wrong, why, and what’s right instead to correction_snippets.md. Edit or delete anytime to scrub.
Story notes
0 saved quotesPin lines for the manuscript — highlight text in a reply, 📌 Pin, or paste above. Permanent saves also live in Story Keeps tab.
No story notes yet — 📌 on a reply or toolbar Save quote.
Cinder Rowan
Threshold reader · soul before changelog · trace first, always
Reader quotes
0 saved quotesNo reader quotes yet — 📌 on a reply or paste above.
Wrong or canned replies — flag in chat, correct here, Ask again on Sir's original question.
Reader flags — open
🚩 removes the bad turn from chat and lands here. ✓ = case closed (good answer). — → Sir (paused until you bring it up) or Not Now (until Clear History).
No open flags — 🚩 a bad reply in Chat with Reader.
Correct flag
Custom reader lenses —
+1 only — very selective. Ask Cinder what reader she wants (Story API on your home PC), edit, then add.
She gets a voice in the dropdown, reader_living/ memory, and her replies can live in the story.
No −1 — flag in Help if one must go; built-in readers are never deleted.
Brainstorm with Cinder
Story beats · living sheets · concept pages — soul before changelog
Concept favorites
⭐ saved ideas from Brainstorm — stored in concept_pages/favorites/
No favorites yet — ⭐ on a reply or toolbar Favorite.
Schedule with Cinder
Next book from !Completed_Novellas/ + Victis_Current_State.md
—
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Loading schedule…
Help — Story floor
Private story.derekjperna.com — home IP only. Type folders: pin V:\Victis\!bat\ for bats only (5 recurring, not 120 mixed). Also V:\Python\ · !txt\ · !md\ · !json\ · !ps1\ · !py\ — one extension per folder.
!bat — pin V:\Victis\!bat\ to Quick Access
Explorer → V:\Victis\!bat\ → right-click → Pin to Quick access. Every .bat lives here only — recurring bats below, not 120 mixed files. If it is not in !bat\, it does not exist.
| Bat | When to use |
|---|---|
| Story.bat | Everyday — start API + open story.derekjperna.com. |
| Deploy Story.bat | After UI changes in !STORY\web\. |
| Restart Story API.bat | After Python / reader lens changes. |
| Open Traces Soul Dashboard.bat | Traces Soul HTML + landing-bug sync. |
| Sync Traces Soul to R2.bat | Seal traces to R2 — trace first, always. |
One-time bats: if a builder adds a bat for a single migration or fix, run it once, deploy if needed, then delete it from !bat\ so this folder stays small. Builders must tell you when a bat is disposable.
House controls (Reconnect, Troubleshoot, etc.) are at the top of this Help page — above this bats table.
Desktop navigation map
Four top sections on Story — everything else is a sub-tab underneath.
| Section | Sub-tabs |
|---|---|
| CINDER | Chat · Brainstorm · Schedule |
| CHARACTERS | Story Chat (Elena · Willie Mae · Sophia) |
| READERS | Chat with Reader · Reader Setup |
| HELP | Help guide (this page) |
Mobile: Cinder · Story Chat · Reader · Help. Cinder Rowan is not in the Reader dropdown — she lives on the main Cinder tab.
CINDER → Cinder Rowan
Chat — threshold reader on the main tab. Soul before changelog. She is not in the Reader dropdown. Use the Story mode pill in chat to switch between books/traces focus and open floor.
Brainstorm — brainstorm with Cinder: story beats, living sheets, concept pages (saves to disk).
Schedule — schedule with Cinder: release calendar from completed novellas + current state.
Persona + voice live in V:\Victis\Cinder_Rowan\. Chat history: story memory\histories\reader_woman_cinder_rowan.json.
CHARACTERS → Story Chat
Elena, Willie Mae, and Sophia — first-person canon chat, separate histories, reference images, story notes for the manuscript.
Deep background files and snapshots live under story memory\ (histories, snapshots, character folders).
READERS → Chat with Reader & Reader Setup
Pick a reader voice in the dropdown — first person about your books. Cinder Rowan is not here — she is on the Cinder tab. Vale Ashford and the other built-in voices are in the list.
Reply controls (on each reader bubble)
- ✓ — Case closed (good answer).
- 🚩 — Wrong or canned → Reader Setup to correct and Ask again.
- — → Sir (paused) or Not Now (until Clear History).
Living memory per persona: story memory\reader_living\
When something breaks
- UI looks old or wrong icon on login
- Hard refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R on
story.derekjperna.com. Then run Deploy Story.bat fromV:\Victis\!bat\. - “Home PC offline” away from desk
- PC awake · run Story.bat on the home PC · try Help → Troubleshoot or Fix tunnel.
- Reader list wrong or Cinder still in dropdown
- Run Restart Story API.bat from
V:\Victis\!bat\(Python changed on disk). - Stuck on login / “private site” at home
- Hard refresh Ctrl+Shift+R, then run Deploy Story.bat (auth IP check must return JSON, not HTML). Still stuck? Sign in with Google — allowed accounts are on the allowlist in Help → paths.
- Phone away from home Wi‑Fi
- Sign in with Google (derek.perna510@gmail.com). Home IP skip only works on your home network.
- Site loads but chat is dead
- Run Story.bat on the home PC — API + tunnel must be up for chat away from desk.
- V: drive missing
- Open File Explorer → Victis (V:) first. Bats only exist under
V:\Victis\!bat\.
Folders on V: (Story scope)
| Path | What it holds |
|---|---|
V:\Victis\!bat\ | All .bat files — pin this folder |
V:\Victis\!txt\ · !md\ · !json\ | Notes and docs — one type per folder |
V:\Victis\!ps1\ · !py\ | Scripts bats call — not mixed with bats |
V:\Victis\!STORY\web\ | story.derekjperna.com source (deploy with Deploy Story.bat) |
V:\Victis\Cinder_Rowan\ | Cinder persona, canon, traces |
V:\Victis\story memory\ | histories · snapshots · reader_living · feedback |
V:\Victis\modes\reader_pov_lenses.json | Reader dropdown voices (no Cinder — she is main tab) |
After config.yaml edits: Restart Story API.bat. After HTML/CSS/JS edits: Deploy Story.bat.