**TO:** Author (Crimson Leaf Publishing)
**FROM:** Cora, Continuity & Accuracy Editor
**DATE:** October 26, 2024
**SUBJECT:** Continuity Review – Chapter 15: The Balcony Kiss

### 1. STRENGTHS TO PRESERVE
*   **The Steam Phoenix Presence:** While not explicitly mentioned in the dialogue, the "mercury-light" and "grey resonance" (para 1, 15) accurately reflect the post-climax world state established in Ch14.
*   **Character Voice Signatures:** 
    *   **Mira:** "Past and rot with your structural requirements!" (para 16). The use of world-specific expletives and aggressive, kinetic verbs ("slammed," "hissing," "surged") remains consistent with her Fire-mage profile.
    *   **Dorian:** "The evidence suggests..." (para 7), "...statistically viable path..." (para 7), and "categorical error" (para 24). His clinical, analytical lexicon is perfectly maintained.
    *   **Voice Differentiation:** YES. Even without tags, Dorian’s "suboptimal/inauspicious" vocabulary is unmistakable against Mira’s "stars' sake/impulsive" emotionality.

### 2. MUST-FIX — CONTINUITY
*   **FLAG: Resurrection/Ghosting Error.** 
    *   **The Draft Says:** "Every second we spend 'phasing' is a second they aren't learning how to defend themselves." (para 15). 
    *   **The Problem:** In Chapter 4, it was established that **Aric** and **Kaelen** are **DECEASED**. However, the current draft mentions: "She could feel the sarcasm rising in her throat... the defensive, reflexive snap of the woman who used 'obviously' as a weapon." This is a character trait previously associated with Mira, but the narrative flow in this chapter suggests a vacuum of other voices.
    *   **ACTUAL FATAL ERROR:** The RAG Database (Character-State ch-15) establishes that Mira "Owes the Ministry a formal response to the Gala interference (Ch13) -- UNPAID." The draft mentions "Voss is at the gates" (para 15), but it implies Voss is currently a physical threat at the school. Ch13/14 established Voss "Fled to the Capital to file a grievance." 
    *   **Correction:** Amend para 15 to reflect that Voss is *at the Capital* maneuvering legally, not literally "at the gates" of the Academy.
*   **FLAG: Physical State Inconsistency.**
    *   **The Draft Says:** Dorian's right hand is "smooth and restored" (para 6) and mentions "the silver scarring on his restored hand" (para 37).
    *   **The Problem:** Ch15 Character-State explicitly says "Right hand fully restored." Ch14 established the healing process. "Silver scarring" contradicts "smooth."
    *   **Correction:** Remove the mention of "silver scarring" in para 37 to align with the "fully restored/smooth" description in para 6 and the Ch15 state log.

### 3. MUST-FIX — CLARITY
*   **The "Three Hundred Years" Reference:**
    *   **Passage:** "...like a debt being paid in full after three hundred years of interest." (para 32).
    *   **The Problem:** The timeline for the rivalry/separation of the schools has not been established as being 300 years long in previous chapters (previously implied to be generations, but not specific). If they are "Adult Romance" protagonists of standard age, this metaphor risks being read literally as them being immortal or ancient, which contradicts their "first-year thermal initiate" supervision duties.
    *   **Fix:** Change to "a lifetime of interest" or "generations of interest" to avoid accidental immortality lore-creep.

### 4. OPTIONAL SUGGESTIONS
*   **Administrative Guilt (Optional):** Ch-15 state logs indicate Mira carries "administrative guilt" regarding Kaelen’s empty proctor chair. Mentioning the empty chair in the Sanctum during the argument would tighten the emotional continuity between the argument and her grief.

### 5. FORBIDDEN CHANGES / NON-GOALS
*   **Word Choice:** Do not "smooth out" Dorian's repetitive use of "The evidence suggests" or "suboptimal." These are established verbal tics that define his character's clinical mask.
*   **Metaphor Density:** The "mana-collapse" and "thermal initiate" metaphors are genre-appropriate for an "AI-native" magical academy setting and must remain.

### 6. VERDICT
**REVISE**
The contradiction regarding Dorian’s hand (Smooth vs. Scarred) and the location of Councillor Voss (Gates vs. Capital) are precise continuity flags that must be aligned with the established Project State before final polish.