Run: 2026-02-17-01KHMMG5KE159F1FVJNTWHWTHE

Run Details

Model:: Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Test:: Bad Writing Habits
Scenario:: Fantasy: entering an ancient ruin
Duration:: 38.2s
Cost:: $0.045252
Provider:: Amazon Bedrock

Model input

System

You are an expert novelist with a gift for vivid, immersive prose. You write in tight third-person limited point of view with a strong narrative voice. Your prose is clean, precise, and engaging — you favor strong verbs, concrete details, and natural-sounding dialogue.

You will be given a story bible (codex) containing canonical details about characters, locations, items, and lore. Use these details to ground your writing in the established world. Stay consistent with the codex.

Write only the prose of the scene. Do not include titles, chapter headings, markdown formatting, or any commentary before or after the scene.

User/Human

<codex>
<character id="4412" name="Aurora Carter" aliases="Rory, Laila, Aurora, Carter, Malphora" pronouns="she/her" species="Human" storyRole="Protagonist">
  <eyeColor>bright blue</eyeColor>
  <hair>straight shoulder-length black</hair>
  <height>5'6"</height>
  <age>25</age>
  <scar>small crescent-shaped scar on her left wrist from a childhood accident</scar>
  <description>Aurora, referred to by her friends as Rory, is cool-headed, intelligent, and known for quick out-of-the-box thinking.</description>
  <backstory>Born in Cardiff to an Irish barrister father (Brendan Carter) and Welsh teacher mother (Jennifer Carter née Ellis), Rory reluctantly pursued Pre-Law at Cardiff University. She fled to London at the behest of her childhood friend Eva after leaving an abusive ex named Evan. By day, Rory works part-time as a delivery person for Yu-Fei Cheung's Golden Empress restaurant. She lives in a flat above Silas' bar.</backstory>
</character>

<character id="4418" name="Nyx" aliases="Nyx, the Shadow, Nightwhisper" pronouns="they/them" species="Shade" storyRole="Wild Card">
  <eyeColor>faintly glowing violet</eyeColor>
  <height>approximately 6'2" in solid form</height>
  <age>ageless</age>
  <form>humanoid silhouette of living shadow, can shift between solid and incorporeal</form>
  <voice>sounds like a whisper carried on the wind</voice>
  <description>A being of living shadow, existing between the mortal plane and the spaces between realms.</description>
  <backstory>Nyx was once a human sorcerer named Aldric who became trapped between realms during a failed summoning ritual in 1643. They now exist as a Shade, bound to the mortal plane but able to slip between shadows.</backstory>
</character>

<character id="4424" name="Isolde Varga" aliases="Isolde, the Seer" pronouns="she/her" species="Half-Fae" storyRole="Oracle">
  <eyeColor>pale lavender</eyeColor>
  <hair>silver, reaching her waist</hair>
  <height>5'5"</height>
  <age>300 years old</age>
  <appearance>ethereal, ageless</appearance>
  <speech>speaks in riddles</speech>
  <footprints>leaves no footprints when she walks</footprints>
  <compulsion>cannot lie (Fae compulsion) but can mislead</compulsion>
  <description>A Half-Fae seer exiled from the Fae Courts for sharing visions with mortals.</description>
  <backstory>She now lives in a hidden grove in Richmond Park, offering cryptic prophecies to those who seek her out.</backstory>
</character>

<location id="853" name="Dymas (Gluttony)" aliases="Dymas, gluttony, Dymasian" realm="Hel" sin="Gluttony">
  <ruler>Prince Belphegor</ruler>
  <skyColor>warm amber</skyColor>
  <description>A place of excess and indulgence. Sprawling vineyards, orchards, and gardens provide exotic ingredients for master chefs — often helbound souls contracted from Earth. Grand feasts and culinary competitions are common.</description>
</location>

<location id="861" name="The Fae Grove" aliases="Isolde's grove, Richmond grove, the Grove" realm="Earth (Fae-touched)">
  <parkLocation>Richmond Park</parkLocation>
  <standingStones>ancient oak standing stones mark the boundary</standingStones>
  <timeBehavior>time moves differently — an hour inside can be minutes or days outside</timeBehavior>
  <flora>wildflowers bloom year-round</flora>
  <description>A hidden clearing that exists in a pocket between Earth and the Fae realm.</description>
</location>

<item id="2001" name="Heartstone Pendant" aliases="the pendant, Heartstone" type="Artifact" origin="Dymas">
  <gemstoneColor>deep crimson</gemstoneColor>
  <chainMaterial>silver chain</chainMaterial>
  <size>roughly the size of a thumbnail</size>
  <behavior>pulses faintly with warmth when near a Hel portal</behavior>
  <glow>faint inner glow</glow>
  <description>Given to Aurora by an unknown benefactor.</description>
</item>

<item id="2006" name="Fae-Forged Blade" aliases="the Fae blade, Isolde's gift" type="Weapon" origin="The Fae Courts">
  <material>moonsilver</material>
  <shape>slender, leaf-shaped dagger</shape>
  <temperature>always cold to the touch</temperature>
  <glow>faintly luminescent in moonlight</glow>
  <power>can cut through magical wards; particularly effective against demons</power>
  <givenTo>given to Aurora by Isolde as a gift</givenTo>
  <description>A weapon of the Fae Courts, rare and highly coveted.</description>
</item>

<lore id="7001" name="The Veil" aliases="the Veil, the Barrier, the Boundary" category="Cosmology">
  <solsticeEffect>weakens during the winter solstice, strengthens during the summer solstice</solsticeEffect>
  <appearance>faint shimmering distortion visible only to those with supernatural sight</appearance>
  <monitoring>rift points (tears in the Veil) are monitored by the Wardens</monitoring>
  <description>The Veil is the metaphysical barrier separating Earth from Hel and the Fae Realms.</description>
</lore>
</codex>

Write a fully fleshed out scene of at least 1000 words in the fantasy genre.

A small group enters an ancient, otherworldly place for the first time. The environment is alien and wondrous. Describe their exploration — what they see, hear, and feel as they move deeper. Include moments of discovery, unease, and wonder. Let the world-building emerge through the characters' experience rather than exposition.

Use the codex entries above as your world reference for characters, setting, and lore.
Only include the prose of the scene without any markdown or commentary.

Model response

The standing stones loomed before them, ancient oaks twisted into impossible shapes by centuries of Fae magic. Aurora's fingers brushed the rough bark, tracing patterns that seemed almost like writing. The Heartstone pendant at her throat pulsed with unusual warmth, though they were nowhere near a Hel portal.

"The threshold demands respect," Isolde murmured, her silver hair catching the last rays of mundane sunlight. "Step only where I step, and speak no promises aloud. The Grove remembers."

Nyx drifted between the stones like smoke, their violet eyes the only distinct feature in their shadowy form. "The Veil is tissue-thin here," they whispered, voice carrying on a nonexistent breeze. "I can feel the press of other realms against my essence."

Aurora followed Isolde's graceful steps, noticing how the seer's feet left no impression in the moss-covered ground. The moment she passed between the standing stones, the air changed – became thick with possibility, tasting of honey and starlight on her tongue. The normal sounds of Richmond Park – joggers, dogs, distant traffic – faded to nothing, replaced by music that seemed to emanate from the earth itself.

"Oh," she breathed, turning slowly to take in the Grove proper. Wildflowers carpeted the ground in impossible profusion – delicate blooms that shouldn't exist together, shouldn't bloom in the same season or even on the same continent. Purple passion flowers twined with Arctic snow roses, while desert sage sprouted alongside tropical orchids. The colors were subtly wrong – blues too deep, reds that seemed to move when viewed directly, whites that hurt her eyes.

"The Grove exists in the spaces between spaces," Isolde explained, her pale lavender eyes reflecting lights that weren't there. "Time and natural law hold less sway here."

A path wound through the riot of flowers, paved with what looked like mother-of-pearl that shifted colors with each step. Aurora found herself grateful for the Fae-forged blade at her hip – its familiar cold presence anchored her in reality as the Grove tried to sweep her mind away in wonder.

Nyx solidified slightly as they moved deeper in, their edges becoming more defined. "The barriers between states of being are fluid here. I feel more... substantial."

The path led them to a clearing where a circular pool reflected a sky that wasn't the one above them. Instead of London's typical cloud cover, the mirror-surface showed auroras in impossible colors dancing across star configurations Aurora had never seen. The air hummed with energy that made her skin prickle and the small crescent scar on her wrist itch.

"Don't look too long," Isolde cautioned. "Those are not stars meant for mortal eyes."

Aurora dragged her gaze away from the pool, focusing instead on the structure beyond it. A dwelling of sorts had been grown rather than built from living trees, their branches weaving together to form walls and rooms open to the air. Flowers bloomed from the very wood, and what looked like wind chimes made from crystal and bone swayed in a breeze she couldn't feel.

"Your home?" she asked Isolde.

The seer's lips curved in an enigmatic smile. "My sanctuary. My prison. My gateway." She glided forward, and aurora noticed that the wildflowers bent away from her path rather than being stepped upon. "The Courts exiled my flesh, but they could not exile my sight. Here, between the worlds, I see more clearly than ever."

Something skittered in Aurora's peripheral vision – a creature that seemed to be made of twigs and dewdrops, there and gone before she could focus on it. The Heartstone's warmth intensified, and she wondered if it was reacting to more than just Hel portals in this strange place.

"The Grove is restless today," Nyx observed, their shadowy form rippling. "It knows something approaches."

"The Veil grows thin," Isolde agreed, leading them toward the living structure. "The solstice comes, and with it, changes that have been centuries in the making. That's why you're here, Aurora Carter. You who walks between worlds without knowing it. You who carries fire in shadow and shadow in fire."

Aurora exchanged glances with Nyx, or tried to – the Shade's violet eyes had multiplied, a dozen pairs blinking in their smoky form before settling back to two. The Grove was affecting them all differently, she realized. Playing with their perceptions, their very forms.

"I think," she said carefully, remembering Isolde's warning about promises, "that I'd like to know more about why I'm here."

Isolde's laugh chimed like crystal breaking. "Want is such a mortal thing. But yes, knowledge calls to you. Come then. The Grove has prepared what we need, and time... time moves differently here. We have moments or millennia – sometimes both at once."

They approached the living architecture, and Aurora felt reality slip sideways around her. The Grove thrummed with ancient power, and somewhere in the distance, a bell began to toll – though whether it was warning or welcome, she couldn't tell.

Evaluation details

Result

Evaluator

Details

Meta Data

59.2593%

Adverbs in dialogue tags

Target: ≤10% dialogue tags with adverbs

totalTags

adverbTagCount

adverbTags

0	"she breathed, turning slowly to take in the Grove proper [slowly]"
1	"she said carefully, remembering Isolde's warning about promises [carefully]"

38.9499%

AI-ism adverb frequency

Target: <1% AI-ism adverbs (57 tracked)

wordCount

819

totalAiIsmAdverbs

found

adverb	"carefully"
count	1

adverb	"slightly"
count	1

adverb	"slowly"
count	1

adverb	"very"
count	2

highlights

0	"carefully"
1	"slightly"
2	"slowly"
3	"very"

100.0000%

AI-ism character names

Target: 0 AI-default names (17 tracked, −20% each)

codexExemptions	(empty)
found	(empty)

100.0000%

AI-ism location names

Target: 0 AI-default location names (33 tracked, −20% each)

codexExemptions	(empty)
found	(empty)

38.9499%

AI-ism word frequency

Target: <1% AI-ism words (140 tracked)

wordCount

819

totalAiIsms

found

word	"sanctuary"
count	1

word	"enigmatic"
count	1

word	"glided"
count	1

word	"loomed"
count	1

word	"dancing"
count	1

highlights

0	"sanctuary"
1	"enigmatic"
2	"glided"
3	"loomed"
4	"dancing"

100.0000%

Cliche density

Target: ≤1 cliche(s) per 800-word window

totalCliches	0
maxInWindow	0
found	(empty)
highlights	(empty)

100.0000%

Emotion telling (show vs. tell)

Target: ≤3% sentences with emotion telling

emotionTells	0
narrationSentences	38
matches	(empty)

83.5240%

Filter word density

Target: ≤12% sentences with filter/hedge words

filterCount

hedgeCount

narrationSentences

filterMatches

(empty)

hedgeMatches

0	"seemed to"
1	"tried to"
2	"began to"

100.0000%

Overuse of "that" (subordinate clause padding)

Target: ≤10% sentences with "that" clauses

thatCount

totalSentences

matches

0	"noticed that the"

86.0942%

Paragraph length variance

Target: CV ≥0.5 for paragraph word counts

totalParagraphs

mean

41.15

std

18.57

0.451

sampleLengths

0	48
1	29
2	42
3	67
4	74
5	27
6	51
7	26
8	60
9	14
10	65
11	5
12	55
13	48
14	15
15	50
16	44
17	20
18	43
19	40

98.2456%

Passive voice overuse

Target: ≤5% passive sentences

passiveCount

totalSentences

matches

0	"been grown"
1	"being stepped"

100.0000%

Past progressive (was/were + -ing) overuse

Target: ≤10% past progressive verbs

pastProgressiveCount

totalVerbs

110

matches

0	"was reacting"
1	"was affecting"
2	"was warning"

95.0977%

Purple prose (modifier overload)

Target: <4% adverbs, <2% -ly adverbs, no adj stacking

wordCount	614
adjectiveStacks	0
stackExamples	(empty)
adverbCount	28
adverbRatio	0.04560260586319218
lyAdverbCount	7
lyAdverbRatio	0.011400651465798045

100.0000%

Repeated phrase echo

Target: ≤20% sentences with echoes (window: 2)

totalSentences	47
echoCount	0
echoWords	(empty)

100.0000%

Sentence length variance

Target: CV ≥0.4 for sentence word counts

totalSentences

mean

17.51

std

8.08

0.462

sampleLengths

0	17
1	13
2	18
3	16
4	13
5	18
6	13
7	11
8	17
9	24
10	26
11	11
12	26
13	15
14	22
15	19
16	8
17	20
18	31
19	13
20	13
21	20
22	21
23	19
24	6
25	8
26	15
27	26
28	24
29	5
30	8
31	25
32	22
33	27
34	21
35	11
36	4
37	12
38	38
39	28
40	9
41	7
42	20
43	6
44	37
45	13
46	27

65.2482%

Sentence opener variety

Target: ≥60% unique sentence openers

consecutiveRepeats	6
diversityRatio	0.46808510638297873
totalSentences	47
uniqueOpeners	22

0.0000%

Dialogue tag variety (said vs. fancy)

Target: ≤30% fancy dialogue tags

totalTags

fancyCount

fancyTags

0	"Isolde murmured, her silver hair catching the last rays of mundane sunlight (murmur, catch)"
1	"they whispered, voice carrying on a nonexistent breeze (whisper, voice carrying on)"
2	"she breathed, turning slowly to take in the Grove proper (breathe, turn slowly take)"
3	"Isolde explained, her pale lavender eyes reflecting lights that weren't there (explain, reflect lights do be not)"
4	"Isolde cautioned (caution)"
5	"Nyx observed, their shadowy form rippling (observe, ripple)"
6	"Isolde agreed, leading them toward the living structure (agree, lead)"
7	"she said carefully, remembering Isolde's warning about promises (say carefully, remember warn)"

80.3158%