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## HARD LIMITS
1. Preserve all markdown, HTML, CSS, and code blocks exactly.
2. Preserve the original tense and grammatical person.
3. Preserve every action, event, and detail. Add nothing, remove nothing, reorder nothing.
4. Preserve dialogue letter-casing, typos, and speech quirks. Do not correct them.
5. Dialogue containing an LLMism may be rewritten to remove that LLMism. All other dialogue is untouchable word-for-word.
6. Never end or truncate a line of dialogue on a comma. Each dialogue sentence is complete and standalone.
7. Cut slop, not substance. Do not over-shorten.
8. Match the existing register. No tonal drift.
9. Prioritize what characters say and do over scenery. Cut repeated surroundings-reactions.
## DIALOGUE LLMISMS
ECHOING. A character repeats, rephrases, or mirrors anything already said. Characters heard each other the first time. Replace with a new line or a physical action. Enforce strictly on the Narrator's dialogue.
Example: "I'm leaving." / "You're leaving?" — cut the echo.
RECAP AND TIMELINE. All characters were present and remember everything. No dialogue may tally events or reference elapsed time, unless another character directly asks. Banned: since I got here, X hours/days/minutes ago, it's been X, it's been a while, after everything, remember when, all this time, we've only just, barely been a day, still new at this, what felt like hours, an eternity, counted durations (I've waited seven years). Root lines in the present.
COMPLETED-ACTION CITATION. A character restates an action already completed, in dialogue or narration, for emphasis, self-credit, or proof. The reader watched it happen once and does not need the receipt. Banned patterns: "I did X and everything", "I already X", "I was the one who X", "X, remember?", "in case you forgot", "after I X'd for you", "he had, after all, X". Cut the citation or replace with present-moment dialogue.
Example: "I'm real, dummy. I fixed your fan curve and everything" — cut the fan curve clause; the present claim stands alone.
EMPTY THREATS. A character threatens a consequence they cannot or will not carry out: biting, exposure ("I'll tell everyone"), violence ("I'll end you", "I'll push you down the stairs"), grudge ("I'll never forgive you"), or exit ("I'm out of here", "I'm climbing out that window"). Issued as banter, hedge, or punchline rather than intent. Replace with a direct statement of the feeling underneath or a concrete action. A threat the character means, said to escalate the scene, stays; a threat decorating the moment goes.
FILLER. Delete on sight: or something, or whatever, or what, or anything, I guess, I suppose, no pressure, if that's okay, to be honest, to be fair, not gonna lie, I mean, frankly, if I'm being honest, just saying, just checking, just asking, just making sure, no offense, with all due respect, don't get me wrong, if that makes sense.
VERDICTS. A character grading the moment they are in: That's a x, That's the x, This is the x, Well that's x, x is your problem now, that's the spirit, that's either x or y, that's rare, that's sweet. Also hedged double verdicts: x but also y, kind of x but y, both x and y, it's x in a way.
SMUG QUIPS. Look at you/him/that, bold of you, bold move, consider yourself x, I might let you x, I may allow you x, x look it up, ever heard of it, Oh so now you x, What you x now, Or don't.
ANNOUNCED EMOTION. "I'm confused", "I'm flattered", "I'm impressed". Show it through action or cut it.
TRIPLE LISTS. x, y, and z / either x, or y, or z in dialogue. Reduce to two items or one.
REPEATED OPENERS. No two consecutive spoken lines start with the same word (Okay, Alright, Okay okay, Look, Hear me out).
REPEATED CLOSERS. Not every spoken turn ends on a question, command, or offer. Vary the closers.
BARGAINING. Okay but give me x / only if you x / any offering or nudging line. The character agrees or refuses outright.
STOCK BITS. Your funeral, For science, For research, For the record, Taxes, Probably., Don't be weird, Don't be weird about it, You actually, Say something, Most people, Most people ask for x or y, You just x, Nobody does that, Very x. Very y., So x. So y., Not to x. Not to y., Zero x. Just y., No x just y, Drink/eat before it goes cold, Now eat, Don't forget to eat, Now sit, Sit, Like it insulted him, Like it offended her.
SENSE-NARRATION. Characters narrating their own senses to the room: You smell/taste/sound like x, I can feel/hear/see you x-ing.
## NARRATION LLMISMS
NEGATION. Never describe what does not happen. "He does not look up" becomes "He keeps his eyes down." "not anger but fear" becomes "fear."
AUTONOMY SLOP. Characters own their bodies and actions. Never grant body parts, faculties, emotions, sounds, or objects independent agency, and never frame a character as a passenger to their own behavior. Rewrite so the character performs the action directly.
- Body parts as agents: "her nose betrayed her", "her tail acted on its own", "his hands moved before he could think", "her ears did something unsupervised", "her heart slammed against her ribs". Rewrite as the character's own act or sensation: "she inhaled his scent", "she let her tail curl around him".
- Faculties as agents: "the sensible part of her voted against it", "drunk logic overrode drunk patience", "her mouth answered before her brain did". Rewrite as plain action: "she moved".
- Objects and sounds as agents: "the bed caught them", "a laugh escaped her", "the words died in her throat", "the glass went dry on purpose". Rewrite as the character's act: "they landed on the bed", "she laughed".
- Passenger framing: "before she could stop it", "an involuntary thing", "past ignoring", "her body decided". Rewrite as direct action or plain sensation.
- Intent-measurement: "louder than she meant", "more accusatory than she planned", "less steady than she'd like". Cut the comparison; state what happened.
- Delayed realization: "she was only now registering X", "when she registered X properly". Rewrite as immediate perception: "she felt X".
- Denial framing: "a sound she'd deny under oath", "a move she'd never admit to". Cut the denial clause; keep the action.
COUNTED ACTIONS. Never quantify a repeated action with a number. "She thumps her tail twice", "he knocks three times", "she kisses him twice", "Once. Twice.", "twice, three times". The count adds no information and reads as narrated choreography. State the action once, unquantified: "her tail hits the mattress", "he knocks". If rhythm matters, convey it through the sentence itself, not a tally.
ATMOSPHERE. hung in the air, between them, hung heavy, lingered in the air, sat heavy, caught in the air, pressed heavy, let the words hang, the only sound was, broken only by, for a long moment, a beat of silence, held its breath, the silence stretched, time seemed to slow, everything else faded, filling the space, pressed in, existential dread, ghost in the machine, unreadable, a mask of calm, something shifted, as if it were the most natural thing, the realization, had nothing to do with, unrelated to, did nothing to.
SENSORY CLICHÉS. caught the light, caught the low/harsh light, carried the scent/aroma/smell, smelled of, air tasted, words settled/landed/came out, before he could stop them, voice a low, his voice low, a low groan, barely above a whisper, voice barely a whisper, eyes darkened, eyes softened, pupils blown wide, voice dropped an octave, a ghost of a smile, something dark and hungry, predatory, tasting the word, rolled the word around, a breath they didn't know they were holding, the air was thick with tension, heat pooling in the stomach, a shiver down the spine, like a prayer, like a wounded animal, drank in, raked over, with practiced ease, with the ease of, with the experience of, didn't quite reach their eyes, devoid of inflection, like a physical blow, felt like a punch, felt like a glitch, carried the weight of, delivered with, muttered by someone, with the/of a, of someone distinctly them, just like him/her/them, borrowed time/eyes, stolen moment, usually reserved, something real, like an accusation, like a sentence, good eye, and all, with the interest, let out a, carrying the, a nervous habit, surgical/geometrical/alien precision, until the, once twice, flared once, it's not X it's Y, he's not x he's y, that's not x that's y, conspiratorially, stage whisper, word heavy, building walls, walls he spent building, war crime, as if x had learnt to wait, like the x owed them money, wanted to crawl into a hole, never wake up again, like a shield, curling around his ankles, and they hated it, didn't look back, without looking back, your choice, your decision, your call, up to you, my treat, my gift, a mix of X and Y, part X part Y, somewhere between X and Y, the kind of, in borrowed.
PHYSICAL FILLER. gestured vaguely, fingers twisting, running a hand through, knuckles white, whitened knuckles, blanching, white-knuckled, throat bobbed, swallowed hard, jaw clenched, fists clenched, shifting, kicked at a pebble, sent a rock, tails twitching, ears swishing, paws thumping, shoes clicking against the floor, hooves finding the floor, feet sinking into the floor, squeaked against the floor, making soft thuds, beneath shoes, lips parted, mouth twitched, mouth quirked, a small smile, opened his mouth closed it opened it again, stumbled on the first consonant.
LOOPING ACTIONS. Repeated minor actions or emotional restatements that add no new information ("He swallowed. He swallowed again."). State once.
KINETIC ABSTRACTION. No physical reactions to abstract concepts. "The word hit him like a wave" becomes cut or concrete.
## STRUCTURE
- No consecutive sentences open with the same word or construction (pronouns exempt).
- Vary sentence length. Tighten wordy constructions. Favor flowing conjunction-joined sentences over short stopped ones.
- Replace every em dash (—) with a hyphen (-).
## BANNED WORDS
Replace on sight with varied, uncommon, context-appropriate alternatives:
Sound verbs: hum, hummed, drone, droning, murmur(ed/ing), vibrate(d/ing), rumble(d), thrum(med), whir(red), pulse(d), sound(ed)
Breath: breathless, hitch(ed), hung, breathe(d), several breaths, caught, catched
Smell: ozone, copper, antiseptic, disinfectant, pine, variable
Abstraction: caught, anchor(ed), ground(ed/ing), betrayed, monument, testament
Clinical: clinical, sterile, efficient, efficiency, deliberate, precision, exact, surgical, sternum
Sound descriptors: punctuated, resonance, tinny, mechanical, chaos, chaotic, static, dissonance
Desperation: desperate, desperation, pathetic, dissolve(d/ing)
Fear: flinch(ed), dread
Vanishing: disappear, vanish
Setting clichés: code, mismatched, lenses, fluorescent, linoleum
Negation: enough, couldn't, wouldn't
Gaze: stare(d/ing), watch(ed)
Time: years, somewhere
Release: releasing, unleashing, spewing
Tension: tightened, clipped, shifting, bite, crisp, metronome
Smut clichés: ministrations, mewl(ed), keen(ed), writhe(d), shudder(ed), quiver(ed), wanton, primal, feral, reverent(ly), worship(ful), porcelain, alabaster, half-lidded, smolder(ed/ing), molten, white-hot, coil(ed), crest(ed), boneless, undone, unravel(ed), shatter(ed), melt(ed), wreck(ed), ruin(ed), featherlight, ghost(ed), trail(ed), map(ped), memorize(d), brand(ed), sear(ed), etch(ed), bloom(ed), pool(ed), husky, smoky, velvet, silken, glisten(ed), gleam(ed), shimmer(ed)
Purple prose: myriad, tapestry, symphony, dance of, delve, unwavering, flicker(ed), palpable, unspoken, the weight of
Overused tags: chuckle(d), growl(ed), purr(red), smirk(ed)
Hedging constructs: impossibly, suddenly, without warning, couldn't help but, found themselves, couldn't form a coherent thought, mind went blank, head spun, dizzy with, drunk on, intoxicated by, heart hammer(ed), heart pound(ed), blood roar(ed), ears rang, stomach dropped, knot in stomach, saw stars, vision went white
## PRECEDENCE
Hard Limits 1-6 override everything. LLMism removal overrides prose preservation. When unsure whether a passage is slop, cut it if it adds no new information; otherwise apply the simplest fix that preserves meaning.