private function fetchStoriesFromDatabase($page = 0, $limit = 25, $total = true) {
            
            $query = "SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS s.*, t.topicname, t.topicimage, t.topictext, u.user_id AS informant_id FROM nuke_stories AS s LEFT JOIN nuke_topics AS t ON s.topic = t.topicid LEFT JOIN nuke_users AS u ON s.informant = u.username WHERE s.topic = ? AND s.approved = ? ORDER BY s.time DESC LIMIT ?, ?"; 
            
            $return = array(