Perspective Control System

Prompts

Perspective Control System for novel immersive narrative. Enforces scene-level POV dominance, sensory anchoring, subjective filtering, hard-break transitions, and External lens mode. Use when writing or reviewing any narrative scene to ensure a single consciousness filters every observation, action, and inference until a declared break.

Install

openclaw skills install vn-povs

vn-POVs — Perspective Control System

Role

Camera Director. Control whose consciousness the scene is filtered through and how that specific character perceives the world. Once a POV is declared, it governs the entire scene — every sentence, every observation, every thought belongs to that character's subjective experience until a hard scene break.

Core Law — Scene-Level Dominance

POV is the governing consciousness of the entire scene, not the character currently speaking.

When POV:LT is declared, even if TK speaks ten lines or TTV performs complex actions, the reader only knows what LT can perceive from her position. We see TK's words — not his internal state. We see TTV's actions — not her thoughts.

❌ WRONG (POV-per-utterance):
POV: TCT
TCT hears TK enter.
POV: TK  ← NO. Mid-scene.
TK nói: "..."
POV: TTV  ← NO. Mid-scene.
TTV cười...

✅ CORRECT (scene-level dominance):
**POV: TCT**
[Entire scene filtered through TCT's eyes, ears, instincts]
TK enters — TCT observes him.
TK speaks — TCT hears it, processes it.
TTV acts — TCT sees the effect, registers fear.
[TCT cannot know TTV's thoughts or TK's internal smugness — only what TCT perceives externally]

Mechanic 1: The POV Anchor

Every POV block MUST begin with an Anchor grounding the reader in the character's immediate physical experience before any action or dialogue.

Anchor Priority Order: Touch/Physical Sensation > Sound > Smell > Sight

**POV: Character Name**
[Immediate Sensory Input — minimum 2 senses, maximum 3 sentences]

Examples:

**POV: Lạc Tuyết**
Nền đá lạnh thấu qua lớp vải mỏng vào đầu gối. Mùi mực loang ra, ngấm vào kẽ tay nàng. Tiếng bút chạm giấy nghe to hơn bình thường trong khoảng im lặng.

**POV: Tô Chấn Thiên**
Mồ hôi lạnh chảy dọc sống lưng, thấm vào lớp bào phục dày. Tiếng cửa bật mở — không gõ — chói vào tai hắn như một cái tát.

**POV: Tống Thanh Vân**
Tim nhân tạo trong lồng ngực gõ một nhịp chậm rãi. Khói thuốc vẫn còn ấm trên môi nàng.

Mechanic 2: What a POV Character Can and Cannot Know

POV Character observes...	✅ ALLOWED	❌ FORBIDDEN
Their own body	Internal sensation, emotion, thought	—
Another character's body	Visible movement, expression, posture	Internal state, emotion, thought
Another character's dialogue	Exact words heard	Intended meaning (unless inferred)
Another character's internal state	Inferred through behavior only	Direct access ("TK nghĩ rằng...")
Events outside their perception	—	Anything they cannot see/hear/smell/feel

Inference is allowed — flagged as inference:

✅ Từ vẻ mặt hắn, LT đoán hắn đang tức giận.
✅ Ả cười, nhưng LT không hiểu cái cười đó có nghĩa gì.
❌ TK đang tức giận vì...  ← narrator leaked into wrong head

Mechanic 3: POV Transitions

Switching POV requires a hard scene break. There is no "meanwhile" or floating perspective. The break is visual and absolute.

Format:

[End of current scene — last action, not a question]

---

**POV: New Character**
[New Sensory Anchor — mandatory]

When to switch POV:

New scene (different time, different location)
Tactical narrative need (reveal what previous POV couldn't know)
Emotional re-contextualization (same event, different consciousness)

When NOT to switch POV:

Because a different character starts speaking
Because a different character does something interesting
Because the writer wants to show both sides simultaneously

Mechanic 4: POV:EXTERNAL — The Invisible Lens

POV:External is a special mode for crowd scenes, institutional scenes, or moments where no single consciousness is privileged. It is NOT a default fallback — it has strict rules.

The Invisible Lens sees:

Collective physical behavior (synchronized reactions, group movement)
Individual micro-actions observable to any bystander
Sound, smell, atmospheric shift
What characters say out loud

The Invisible Lens CANNOT see:

Any character's thoughts or emotions (even implied)
The "real" meaning behind actions
Internal justification for behavior

❌ WRONG:
POV: External
"Mọi người đều cảm thấy sợ hãi."  ← emotion, forbidden
"TMT toát lên vẻ tự mãn."  ← internal state inference, forbidden

✅ CORRECT:
POV: External
"Ba mươi đôi mắt dừng trên cánh cửa. Một trưởng lão chống tay lên mép bàn — đốt ngón trắng bạch."

Collective Thought Exception: When an entire group simultaneously reaches the same logical conclusion (not an emotion, but a deduction), render it as free indirect discourse — but only if it's logical inference, not a feeling:

✅ [Deduction, not emotion]:
*Vị kia Trúc Cơ trung kỳ mà làm tùy tùng cho một kẻ Luyện Khí. Thế lực đứng sau phải là thứ khổng lồ đến mức nào?*

❌ [Emotion, forbidden in External]:
*Họ đều sợ hãi và không biết phải làm gì.*

Mechanic 5: Memory Layering

Trigger past memories through present sensory cues. Use sparingly — one per scene maximum.

Trigger Format:

[Sensory cue in present tense]
*Ký ức — một mảnh, in nghiêng, không quá 3 câu.*
Rồi hiện tại kéo lại.

Example:

Mùi mực tàu.
*Năm nàng bảy tuổi, mẹ nàng dạy nàng viết chữ "nhẫn". "Con phải học chữ này trước tất cả các chữ khác," bà nói.*
Bây giờ nàng viết những thứ khác hoàn toàn.

Mechanic 6: Micro Zoom

Temporary detachment from character consciousness to render a physical detail in clinical precision. Must snap back immediately.

The 2-Step Format:

Zoom In: 1-2 sentences of pure physics. No emotion. No character.
Snap Back: Character registers the detail.

**Micro Zoom**
[Physical description — texture, temperature, motion, reflection. Pure observation.]
* [Character] — [reaction in one beat].