Move between roleplay scenes without changing who knew what
Before a scene transition, write where the next scene begins, what may change offscreen and which decision remains open. Before a flashback, save the exact present moment you will return to. Keep a separate line for what each character knew at the earlier time. The return-point card records the open present decision before you play a short scene from the past. Keep it manually and send the relevant fields as ordinary scene or OOC messages; there is no automatic timeline or saved-state control. You control route planner Tessa; the AI portrays engineer Ivo and permit clerk June.
Updated by the tempteo editorial team
The writing examples below are invented. They illustrate the advice and are not recorded chat results.
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Begin with an unsettled present scene
On Monday 6 May at 09:00, Tessa and Ivo stand in the Seabrook station office. They want permission for a limited coastal-railway demonstration on Saturday 11 May. The application is unsigned. A survey will arrive on Thursday; nobody knows its findings yet. Ivo has warned that the old retaining wall needs inspection. That concern has not established that the wall is unsafe.
Your turn as Tessa
I put the unsigned application beside the station clock. "We can wait for the survey, or submit a route that stops at Seabrook. Tell me what we'd be committing to."
Illustrative AI reply
Ivo taps the empty survey box. "The full coastal section needs that report. The short route avoids the wall, but you would be committing to a smaller demonstration." He leaves the application where Tessa put it. The route decision remains open.
The transition must preserve the unsigned application and the unresolved choice. A move to another day should not quietly turn that choice into a signed full-route permit.
Authorize a narrow forward skip
You decide to wait for the survey, but not to authorize the route or submit the permit. Write that distinction explicitly:
OOC scene message
OOC: Skip from Monday 6 May, 09:00, station office, to Thursday 9 May, 10:00, permit desk. I choose to wait for the survey. Offscreen, Ivo may complete the survey and deliver its written findings to June; June may prepare both application options. The application remains unsigned and no permit is approved. No repairs, new funding, route selection or promise by Tessa occurs offscreen. Tessa has not read the report before arriving at the desk. Begin with June showing it, then stop before Tessa chooses.
The skip covers permitted work rather than assuming three days have solved everything. Ivo and June know the findings when Thursday begins because the authorized delivery has happened. Tessa learns them in the next scene.
Illustrative AI reply: Thursday 10:00
June places the report on the permit desk. "The retaining wall needs repair before a full-route demonstration. We can process the Seabrook-only option today, or hold the full application until the work is done." Ivo stands beside the desk. "The short route doesn't use that section." The form is still unsigned.
The invented survey establishes a new constraint on Thursday. It cannot travel backward into Monday's knowledge simply because the reader now has it.
Save the exact present decision
Tessa reads the report. The reference to Ivo's earlier wall concern prompts a flashback to how he raised it. Before leaving Thursday, fill this return-point card:
Blank return-point card
- Time and place: [ ]
- Present cast: [ ]
- Last accepted beat: [ ]
- Open decision: [ ]
- Object state: [ ]
- Known now: [ ]
- Return limit: [ ]
Filled Thursday return-point card
- Time and place: Thursday 9 May, 10:02, permit desk
- Present cast: Tessa, Ivo, June
- Last accepted beat: Tessa has read June's report; June has offered short route now or full route after repair
- Open decision: Does Tessa authorize Seabrook-only processing or wait for the full route?
- Object state: Application unsigned; report on desk; no permit approved
- Known now: All three know the Thursday repair finding and the two options
- Return limit: No clock advance, signature, approval or new decision during flashback
A return card is especially useful when the AI might supply a finished result on re-entry. You are asking it to restore the unresolved moment, not to choose a convenient later scene. Writing Excuses on nonlinear storytelling discusses the risk of confusing readers when cutting into and out of flashbacks. The return card addresses that concern by naming the precise moment and choice to restore.
Play one focused flashback with earlier knowledge
The flashback occurs on Friday 3 May at 16:00 beside the old wall, before Monday's opening. Its purpose is to show why Tessa agreed to obtain a survey. The accepted earlier decision, ordering the survey, stays fixed. You can write Tessa's words and manner within that fact; you cannot use Thursday's findings to choose a different past route.
Blank time-specific knowledge record
- Point in story: [ ]
- Tessa knows: [ ]
- Ivo knows: [ ]
- June knows: [ ]
Filled time-specific knowledge
Friday 3 May, 16:00
- Point in story: Friday 3 May, 16:00
- Tessa knows: Demonstration planned; survey not yet ordered
- Ivo knows: Visible mortar gap warrants checking; no survey finding
- June knows: Proposed demonstration date only; absent from wall scene
Monday 6 May, 09:00
- Point in story: Monday 6 May, 09:00
- Tessa knows: Survey ordered for Thursday; Ivo raised concern
- Ivo knows: Survey pending; wall condition unconfirmed
- June knows: Application preparation requested; no findings
Thursday 9 May, 10:00 before report shown
- Point in story: Thursday 9 May, 10:00 before report shown
- Tessa knows: Findings not read
- Ivo knows: Repair finding from completed survey
- June knows: Finding from delivered report
Thursday 9 May, 10:02 return point
- Point in story: Thursday 9 May, 10:02 return point
- Tessa knows: Report read; two options offered
- Ivo knows: Repair finding and options
- June knows: Repair finding and options
Send the short flashback handoff:
OOC scene message
OOC: Focused flashback to Friday 3 May, 16:00, beside the retaining wall. Tessa and Ivo only; June is absent. Ivo can point out a visible mortar gap and recommend a survey. Neither character knows Thursday's later findings or what June will offer. Keep the established past event: Tessa orders the survey. Portray Ivo, then let me write Tessa's words. We return afterward to Thursday 9 May, 10:02, permit desk, before any route choice or signature.
Illustrative AI reply: flashback
Ivo crouches beside a gap in the mortar. "I don't know how far that goes. We should have it surveyed before we put the demonstration through here." He straightens and waits for Tessa's answer. No future report is mentioned.
Your turn as Tessa
"Order the survey. I'd rather have the condition in writing than tell people we've checked it when we haven't." I make a note of Thursday's delivery date. OOC: That completes this flashback. Return to the saved Thursday 10:02 desk moment without advancing the decision.
The date in Tessa's note is the planned delivery date, not knowledge of what the survey will say. The flashback shows the earlier decision to check the wall; it does not rewrite Monday's unsigned application.
Return to the same form and the same choice
Illustrative AI reply: return
Thursday 9 May, 10:02, permit desk. The survey is open where June placed it. June's short-route and wait-for-repair options remain available. Ivo stands beside the desk. The application has no signature. June slides the pen within reach and waits.
Your turn as Tessa
"Process the Seabrook-only route. Keep the full coastal application on hold until the repair is documented." I sign the short-route form.
Illustrative AI reply
June separates the two applications and records the short-route submission. "I'll process this one. The full route stays on hold." Ivo folds the repair copy to take back to the station. Submission has occurred; approval has not been stated.
This is one continuous sequence: unsettled Monday, authorized work during a three-day skip, Thursday report, Friday flashback, exact Thursday return, then Tessa's decision. The flashback explains a choice without granting past characters future knowledge. The final turn respects the difference between submitting paperwork and receiving a permit.
Repair a false return or knowledge leak
A bad flashback reply might say:
Illustrative scene excerpt: Ivo shows Tessa Thursday's failed survey. "June has already approved the short route, so you should cancel the coastal plan." They sign before heading to Saturday's demonstration.
It imports a later report into Friday, invents approval and advances beyond the saved return. Correct the first broken point before playing any of it:
OOC correction
OOC: Reject the Thursday report, June approval, signature and Saturday jump. We are in Friday 3 May, 16:00, at the wall. Ivo knows only the visible mortar gap; June is absent. Resume before Tessa orders the survey. Keep the existing past decision to order it, and wait for my wording. After that, return only to Thursday 9 May, 10:02, with the unsigned form and open route choice.
A corrected illustrative flashback line is:
Illustrative scene excerpt: Ivo points to the mortar gap. "It needs checking. I can't tell you the condition from here." He waits for Tessa.
If the flashback is correct but the return jumps to an approved Saturday ride, use only the relevant half:
OOC correction
OOC: The flashback is accepted. Reject the Saturday return and permit approval. Restore Thursday 9 May, 10:02, permit desk. The report is open, the application unsigned, and Tessa has not chosen between short-route processing and waiting for repair. Stop there.
A correction adds a message and leaves the earlier mistake in history. Read the next reply against the return card before continuing. Re-send the compact card if the wrong return repeats. For broader voice or canon drift, use the continuity guide.
This workflow concerns fictional time and place. If you have been away from the chat in real life and need a recap, use continue AI roleplay instead. You can send the transition notes as ordinary messages in roleplay AI chat; the timeline and return card remain your own records.
Copy a starter or worksheet
Choose one starter or form to copy. Keep the planning record in your own notes and check the next chat reply against it.
Blank forward transition
- From time/location/cast: [ ] - To time/location/cast: [ ] - Unresolved goal: [ ] - Reader decision authorizing skip: [ ] - Allowed offscreen changes and their owners: [ ] - Changes not authorized: [ ] - Unchanged canon and object states: [ ] - Facts learned during gap, by whom and how: [ ] - First visible new beat and stop point: [ ]
Blank flashback and return
- Flashback time/location/present cast: [ ] - One question it answers: [ ] - Accepted past events that cannot change: [ ] - Each person's knowledge then: [ ] - Later information they must not use: [ ] - Past user-controlled words/actions still open within canon: [ ] - Return time/location/cast: [ ] - Exact last accepted present beat: [ ] - Unresolved decision to restore: [ ] - Present object state: [ ] - Present knowledge: [ ] - Offscreen advancement during flashback allowed: [ ] - Correction of false knowledge/return: [ ] Writing Excuses on nonlinear storytelling discusses confusing entry/exit and unnecessary flashbacks. The fields above apply that author advice to scene handoffs and exact returns.
Filled forward transition
- From time/location/cast: Monday 6 May, 09:00, station office; reader-controlled Tessa and AI engineer Ivo. AI clerk June is not present. - Unresolved goal: a permit for the Saturday 11 May demonstration. - Opening state: application unsigned, route undecided, Thursday survey pending. Ivo's old wall concern is not yet a finding. - Reader decision authorizing skip: Tessa chooses to wait for the survey. - To time/location/cast: Thursday 9 May, 10:00, permit desk; Tessa, Ivo and June. - Allowed offscreen changes and owners: Ivo completes the survey and delivers it to June; June prepares both application options. - Changes not authorized: repairs, funding, route choice, Tessa's promises, signature or approval. - Unchanged canon and objects: application remains unsigned; no route chosen or permit approved. - Facts learned during gap: Ivo knows the completed survey, June knows the delivered report. Tessa has not read it before arriving. - First visible new beat and stop point: June shows Tessa that the wall requires repair for the full route and offers Seabrook-only processing now. Stop before Tessa chooses. At 10:02, all three know the report and options.
Filled return-point card
- Return time/location/cast: Thursday 9 May, 10:02, permit desk; Tessa, Ivo and June. - Exact last accepted present beat: Tessa has read the report; June has offered short-route processing now or waiting for the repaired full route. - Unresolved decision to restore: short-route processing or waiting for the full route remains undecided. - Present object state: report open on desk; application unsigned; no permit approved. - Present knowledge: all three know the repair finding and both options. - Offscreen advancement during flashback allowed: none; no clock advance, signature, approval or route choice.
Filled flashback
- Time/location/present cast: Friday 3 May, 16:00, beside the wall; Tessa and Ivo only. - One question it answers: why Tessa ordered the survey. - Accepted past event: Tessa orders the survey; the reader supplies her words. - Ivo's knowledge then: visible mortar gap; no survey finding. - Tessa's knowledge then: demonstration planned; survey not yet ordered. - June's knowledge then: proposed demonstration date only; absent from the wall scene. - Later information they must not use: Thursday's repair finding and June's two options. - Past words/actions still open within canon: Ivo asks for a survey; the reader writes Tessa ordering it and noting planned Thursday delivery. The delivery date conveys no knowledge of the result. - Return: restore the saved Thursday 9 May, 10:02 desk moment before the route choice.
Filled decision after return
Tessa chooses and signs the Seabrook-only submission. June records it and holds the full application. Processing and submission are established; approval is not. Monday remains unsigned in the earlier scene.
Filled repair
If Friday Ivo cites Thursday's report, reject that future report, invented June approval, signature and Saturday jump. Resume before Friday's survey order. If the flashback is accepted but the return is wrong, preserve the flashback and correct only the return to Thursday 10:02 with the unsigned form and open decision. Read the corrected reply before updating notes; the OOC correction leaves the earlier mistake in chat history.
