Welcome to The CLEAR Community 👋

Start Here
1

Hey — welcome in.

I’m TheDevMan. I built this place: the website, this forum, all of it.

I’m not the author — that’s S.J. Hayden — she’s a close friend, and she’ll be dropping in here soon, and honestly I’m as much a fan of this world as any of you. I just happen to be the one who gets to build its corner of the internet. The way I see it, that makes me part of the universe too — so consider us neighbors!

Here’s the quick tour of the rooms:

  • :red_square: Announcements — official word from S.J. Hayden: new chapters, releases, news.
  • :purple_square: Lore — the Realms, the Codex, the Citizens. Everything in CLEAR Universe.
  • :blue_square: Chapter Discussion — read along and talk about the details, chapter by chapter.
  • :green_square: Theories — predictions, clues, and where it’s all headed.
  • General Discussion — the lounge. Anything goes.

Do one thing before you wander off: reply below and introduce yourself. Where’d you find CLEAR, how far in are you, and what’s got a grip on you so far? Keep this thread spoiler-free — save those for Chapter Discussion and Theories.

Glad you’re here. Let’s build this thing together.

— TheDevMan

3

Hi, everyone. I’m S.J. Hayden, the author of CLEAR: Prelude to Catharsis.

First, I have to thank TheDevMan for building this place. What began as a story in my head now has its own little corner of the world, complete with a website, a forum, and apparently neighbors. Seeing it become somewhere readers can actually step inside means I have to give major props to TheDevMan.

CLEAR began years ago as a world I created alongside my two best friends. There were characters, strange realms, scattered scenes, and pieces of a much larger story, but life moved forward, and the world was eventually set aside.

Then, almost two years ago, I found my way back to it.

What started as revisiting an old idea quickly became something that consumed me. The characters changed. The world deepened. Questions about identity, memory, control, truth, belonging, and the stories we inherit began shaping everything. Somewhere along the way, CLEAR stopped feeling like a project I was constructing and started feeling like a world I was uncovering.

I’ve spent countless hours writing, rebuilding, questioning, illustrating, and occasionally arguing with these characters as though they were begging me to stop torturing them so ruthlessly. Unfortunately for them, they live in a history where reality was rarely merciful.

But this story would still be nothing more than words sitting on my computer without the people willing to enter it. Every reader who notices a clue, cares about a character, develops a theory, or simply wonders what happens next becomes part of CLEAR’s journey.

So introduce yourself below. Tell me where you discovered CLEAR, how far you’ve read, and which part of the world has stayed with you so far. Please keep this thread spoiler-free for the readers still finding their way through.

I’m genuinely glad you’re here.

Welcome to the CLEAR Universe.

— S.J. Hayden

1 Like