Give an AI character something to answer

Make the first turn specific enough to continue

Tell the companion where the adult characters are and what needs attention now. For example, you could be restoring a neighbourhood noticeboard when somebody delivers a poster for an event that supposedly finished years ago. Ask what stands out and leave your next action undecided. One clear uncertainty is enough to give the response a purpose.

An everyday subject works too. Say what you want to discuss instead of assuming the greeting must contain a complete roleplay premise. Add background only when it helps explain the question you are asking.

Describe a reply preference rather than an output guarantee

You can ask for more dialogue, shorter turns, details of the surroundings or a question at the end. Make the request about the part you want changed. A reply-format instruction does not disclose the model's maximum output, expand its context window or permanently alter the companion's stored personality.

When a generated response contradicts the scene, state the correction before carrying on. Use an available regeneration control if another version would help. Neither approach requires accepting an unwanted event as part of the story simply because it appeared once.

Use the right control for media

Ordinary paid text chat has its own access allowance. Choosing an image, supported audio action or video request can draw on tokens separately. Inspect that action's cost and balance; being able to send another written message does not establish that a media request is funded.

For supported chats, the image-generation setting under Ask controls that picture mode. Turning it off does not turn every media action into free text or remove charges from calls and other tools. Use the selected mode's actual controls rather than inferring its settings from a visual style.

Keep, restart or branch the conversation intentionally

Preserve the thread when you want its existing history. Reset Chat begins the interaction again, while Delete Chat removes the conversation. They are not interchangeable with hiding a panel or scrolling back to the beginning. Read the confirmation before using either on a scene you care about.

Plus cloning copies a conversation at a point so that another continuation can develop separately. Later turns in the clone do not automatically update the original. A saved history also does not guarantee complete recall: supply a concise recap when an important current fact is missed.

Your questions

Do written messages spend the same tokens as pictures?

Ordinary subscriber text access and media spending are separate. A supported picture, audio or video action can have a token charge even while text conversation remains available. Look at the action you selected and its confirmation instead of treating all activity inside chat as one allowance.

How do I stop the companion from writing my dialogue?

Ask it to describe only its character's response and leave your speech and choices unwritten. If a later turn ignores that direction, point out the specific line and continue from your intended situation. The instruction is guidance for replies, not a guarantee about every future output.

Will starting again preserve the full story?

Not automatically. Resetting affects the interaction, and deletion removes the thread. Keep the original if its record matters. Where cloning is offered, a separate branch preserves the copied starting history without making subsequent conversations share all new events.