Run: 2026-02-17-01KHMPB2GXNVS55GVR0VWSP4RE

Run Details

Model:: DeepSeek-V2 Chat
Test:: Bad Writing Habits
Scenario:: Fantasy: entering an ancient ruin
Duration:: 30.3s
Cost:: $0.001804
Provider:: Novita

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 Heartstone pendant pulsed against Aurora’s collarbone like a second heartbeat as they stepped through the shimmering rift. The air smelled thick with something sweet and cloying—honey, maybe, or overripe fruit. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry.  

Beside her, Nyx’s shadowy form rippled, their violet eyes flickering like distant stars. "Dymas," they murmured, the whisper curling through the air like smoke. "Prince Belphegor’s domain."  

Aurora exhaled. The sky above them was a warm, liquid amber, streaked with gold like the inside of a molten jewel. No sun, no clouds—just light bleeding from everywhere at once. The ground beneath her boots was soft, yielding slightly with each step, as if they walked on living flesh rather than earth.  

"Cheerful place," she muttered, adjusting the strap of her bag. The Fae-forged blade at her hip hummed faintly, its chill seeping through the leather sheath.  

Nyx glided forward, their silhouette flickering between solid and incorporeal as they passed beneath the twisted boughs of trees that shouldn’t exist. Their trunks were smooth, almost glassy, their branches heavy with fruit that pulsed with an inner light. Some were swollen and split, dripping thick, syrupy liquid onto the ground below.  

Aurora reached out, brushing her fingers against one. The skin was warm, yielding like flesh. She recoiled.  

"Don’t," Nyx said, though they didn’t turn. "Everything here is alive. Hungry."  

Aurora wiped her hand against her jacket. The air was thick with the sound of distant laughter, the clinking of glasses, the low murmur of voices just out of reach. It reminded her of Silas’ bar on a crowded night, if the patrons were all half-drunk and whispering secrets.  

A path unfolded before them, lined with towering stalks of something like wheat, but the grains were fat, glistening beads that trembled as they passed. Aurora swore she saw them turn, following their movement.  

"Lovely," she muttered.  

Nyx paused, their head tilting. "Listen."  

The sound was faint at first—a low, rhythmic thrumming, like a heartbeat echoing through the earth. Then, the scent hit her: roasting meat, spiced wine, something rich and decadent that made her stomach clench despite herself.  

Aurora’s fingers twitched toward the pendant. It burned against her skin now, the crimson stone pulsing in time with the distant rhythm. "We’re close," she said.  

The path opened into a clearing, and the sight stole her breath.  

A long table stretched before them, laden with platters of food so vivid they looked painted: fruits glistening with dew, roasted meats dripping with juices, towers of pastries dusted in gold. The chairs were empty, the goblets full.  

And at the head of the table, a figure lounged—tall, elegant, his skin the color of aged parchment, his fingers long and tipped with nails like polished bone. Prince Belphegor.  

His smile was slow, indulgent. "Ah," he purred. "Guests."  

Aurora’s hand found the hilt of her blade. The metal sang beneath her touch, cold and eager.  

Nyx stepped forward, their voice a whisper on the wind. "We’re just passing through."  

The Prince’s laughter was rich, deep. "Everyone says that." He lifted a goblet, the liquid inside dark as blood. "But no one ever leaves without tasting something first."  

The table groaned, the plates shifting, the scent thickening until it was almost unbearable. Aurora’s mouth watered against her will.  

The Heartstone burned.  

She tightened her grip. "We’re not staying."  

Belphegor’s smile widened. "We’ll see."  

The shadows around them deepened. The feast, the clearing, the impossible sky—all of it waited, watching.  

And for the first time since stepping through the rift, Aurora felt the weight of true hunger—not hers, but the land’s.  

Dymas had noticed them.  

And it wanted more.

Evaluation details

Result

Evaluator

Details

Meta Data

100.0000%

Adverbs in dialogue tags

Target: ≤10% dialogue tags with adverbs

totalTags	6
adverbTagCount	0
adverbTags	(empty)

67.3736%

AI-ism adverb frequency

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

wordCount

613

totalAiIsmAdverbs

found

adverb	"slightly"
count	1

adverb	"suddenly"
count	1

highlights

0	"slightly"
1	"suddenly"

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)

2.1207%

AI-ism word frequency

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

wordCount

613

totalAiIsms

found

word	"glistening"
count	2

word	"glided"
count	1

word	"trembled"
count	1

word	"weight"
count	1

word	"echoing"
count	1

highlights

0	"glistening"
1	"glided"
2	"trembled"
3	"weight"
4	"echoing"

100.0000%

Cliche density

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

totalCliches

maxInWindow

found

label	"air was thick with"
count	1

highlights

0	"The air was thick with"

100.0000%

Emotion telling (show vs. tell)

Target: ≤3% sentences with emotion telling

emotionTells	0
narrationSentences	52
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Filter word density

Target: ≤12% sentences with filter/hedge words

filterCount	0
hedgeCount	0
narrationSentences	52
filterMatches	(empty)
hedgeMatches	(empty)

100.0000%

Overuse of "that" (subordinate clause padding)

Target: ≤10% sentences with "that" clauses

thatCount

totalSentences

matches

0	"says that.\" He"

100.0000%

Paragraph length variance

Target: CV ≥0.5 for paragraph word counts

totalParagraphs

mean

21.61

std

14.91

0.69

sampleLengths

0	37
1	27
2	53
3	25
4	52
5	17
6	12
7	49
8	34
9	3
10	6
11	36
12	26
13	12
14	38
15	30
16	9
17	17
18	14
19	28
20	20
21	3
22	7
23	5
24	16
25	21
26	4
27	4

100.0000%

Passive voice overuse

Target: ≤5% passive sentences

passiveCount	0
totalSentences	52
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Past progressive (was/were + -ing) overuse

Target: ≤10% past progressive verbs

pastProgressiveCount	0
totalVerbs	93
matches	(empty)

100.0000%

Purple prose (modifier overload)

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

wordCount	574
adjectiveStacks	0
stackExamples	(empty)
adverbCount	17
adverbRatio	0.029616724738675958
lyAdverbCount	3
lyAdverbRatio	0.005226480836236934

100.0000%

Repeated phrase echo

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

totalSentences	60
echoCount	0
echoWords	(empty)

100.0000%

Sentence length variance

Target: CV ≥0.4 for sentence word counts

totalSentences

mean

10.08

std

7.3

0.724

sampleLengths

0	18
1	13
2	6
3	13
4	11
5	3
6	2
7	19
8	10
9	22
10	10
11	15
12	22
13	17
14	13
15	8
16	7
17	2
18	7
19	5
20	7
21	23
22	19
23	25
24	9
25	3
26	5
27	1
28	16
29	20
30	6
31	16
32	4
33	12
34	31
35	7
36	28
37	2
38	5
39	3
40	1
41	8
42	9
43	10
44	4
45	6
46	13
47	9
48	14
49	6

68.8889%

Sentence opener variety

Target: ≥60% unique sentence openers

consecutiveRepeats	2
diversityRatio	0.43333333333333335
totalSentences	60
uniqueOpeners	26

0.0000%

Dialogue tag variety (said vs. fancy)

Target: ≤30% fancy dialogue tags

totalTags

fancyCount

fancyTags

0	"they murmured, the whisper curling through the air like smoke (murmur)"
1	"she muttered, adjusting the strap of her bag (mutter, adjust)"
2	"Nyx said, though they didn’t turn (say, do not turn)"
3	"she muttered (mutter)"
4	"he purred (pur)"

84.6108%