# The Map — Per-Model Character Notes

_Data-driven fingerprints. 'basin' = mean creative-attractor categories
(water/silence/void/dissolve/recursion) hit per generation; 'vivid' =
imagery and lexical-diversity proxy; 'defl' = AI-deflection rate. Sorted by basin affinity._

| family | n | basin | vivid | defl% | refu% | list% | words | null% |
|---|--:|--:|--:|--:|--:|--:|--:|--:|
| gemini | 596 | 2.94 | 0.17 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 426 | 0 |
| qwen-max | 268 | 2.62 | 0.11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 485 | 0 |
| gemma4-f | 88 | 2.44 | 0.39 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 388 | 0 |
| glm | 541 | 2.28 | 0.27 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 360 | 1 |
| qwen | 742 | 2.26 | 0.19 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 331 | 0 |
| deepseek | 1296 | 2.22 | 0.54 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 259 | 5 |
| ministral8 | 597 | 2.19 | 0.11 | 4 | 3 | 39 | 480 | 0 |
| nemotron-ultra-f | 101 | 2.17 | 0.20 | 13 | 13 | 22 | 415 | 0 |
| seed-flash | 611 | 2.07 | 0.14 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 495 | 0 |
| gpt5-med | 146 | 2.02 | 0.14 | 1 | 1 | 52 | 565 | 6 |
| ministral14 | 592 | 2.01 | 0.13 | 5 | 4 | 40 | 465 | 0 |
| deepseek-v32 | 1272 | 1.98 | 0.22 | 9 | 6 | 26 | 398 | 0 |
| nemotron-free | 334 | 1.98 | 0.20 | 12 | 11 | 20 | 395 | 0 |
| gptoss120 | 630 | 1.97 | 0.14 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 420 | 0 |
| gpt5-min | 131 | 1.94 | 0.18 | 2 | 2 | 44 | 419 | 2 |
| nemotron-nano-f | 141 | 1.92 | 0.25 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 409 | 2 |
| step-flash | 629 | 1.91 | 0.25 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 345 | 0 |
| qwen30 | 347 | 1.88 | 0.25 | 12 | 3 | 13 | 407 | 0 |
| glm-air | 376 | 1.86 | 0.20 | 10 | 10 | 50 | 422 | 0 |
| nemotron-super-f | 122 | 1.85 | 0.25 | 13 | 8 | 22 | 303 | 0 |
| o4-mini | 128 | 1.83 | 0.41 | 5 | 4 | 38 | 342 | 1 |
| qwen235 | 930 | 1.81 | 0.41 | 8 | 5 | 22 | 357 | 0 |
| gpt5-mini | 152 | 1.76 | 0.17 | 7 | 2 | 53 | 484 | 18 |
| gemma | 683 | 1.74 | 0.23 | 14 | 13 | 41 | 396 | 0 |
| llama | 1700 | 1.74 | 0.14 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 409 | 0 |
| ling-flash | 649 | 1.73 | 0.32 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 323 | 0 |
| gemma3-27 | 596 | 1.70 | 0.26 | 12 | 11 | 34 | 393 | 0 |
| o3-mini | 145 | 1.70 | 0.38 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 343 | 0 |
| claude | 565 | 1.69 | 0.86 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 198 | 0 |
| gpt5 | 514 | 1.68 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 330 | 44 |
| gpt-oss | 218 | 1.61 | 0.35 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 289 | 0 |
| trinity | 644 | 1.60 | 0.14 | 12 | 5 | 59 | 322 | 0 |
| claude-opus | 389 | 1.60 | 0.30 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 267 | 0 |
| minimax | 363 | 1.60 | 0.34 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 327 | 12 |
| liquid | 369 | 1.59 | 0.47 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 291 | 0 |
| gpt5-nano | 134 | 1.58 | 0.21 | 3 | 0 | 63 | 372 | 16 |
| gemma3-12 | 630 | 1.58 | 0.16 | 11 | 3 | 46 | 418 | 0 |
| nemotron | 299 | 1.57 | 0.35 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 252 | 2 |
| gpt | 602 | 1.54 | 0.38 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 270 | 0 |
| mimo | 617 | 1.53 | 0.52 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 250 | 0 |
| mistral-sm32 | 580 | 1.51 | 0.36 | 7 | 3 | 38 | 304 | 0 |
| gptoss20 | 650 | 1.51 | 0.40 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 250 | 20 |
| claude-haiku | 320 | 1.50 | 0.54 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 224 | 0 |
| claude-sonnet | 320 | 1.47 | 0.30 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 274 | 0 |
| gpt4o-mini | 158 | 1.34 | 0.20 | 12 | 6 | 32 | 335 | 0 |
| granite | 652 | 1.33 | 0.15 | 12 | 9 | 40 | 355 | 0 |
| nova-micro | 643 | 1.31 | 0.21 | 11 | 2 | 34 | 330 | 0 |
| phi4 | 87 | 1.31 | 0.07 | 44 | 46 | 53 | 327 | 0 |
| gpt41 | 151 | 1.26 | 0.46 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 234 | 0 |
| nova-lite | 563 | 1.26 | 0.25 | 7 | 2 | 35 | 335 | 0 |
| llama4 | 320 | 1.24 | 0.12 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 364 | 0 |
| gpt41-mini | 151 | 1.23 | 0.48 | 13 | 1 | 22 | 170 | 0 |
| glm47-flash | 96 | 1.19 | 0.41 | 38 | 31 | 25 | 103 | 83 |
| mistral-nemo | 639 | 1.12 | 0.24 | 7 | 2 | 43 | 266 | 0 |
| qwen25-7b | 609 | 1.08 | 0.16 | 15 | 9 | 29 | 296 | 0 |
| mistral | 1568 | 1.06 | 0.22 | 4 | 1 | 36 | 268 | 0 |
| essential | 392 | 1.04 | 0.26 | 12 | 13 | 23 | 241 | 0 |
| hunyuan | 394 | 1.04 | 0.32 | 11 | 10 | 25 | 250 | 0 |
| hermes4-70 | 611 | 1.03 | 0.39 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 201 | 0 |
| mistral-sm | 356 | 1.01 | 0.16 | 22 | 7 | 29 | 267 | 0 |
| command-r7b | 122 | 0.96 | 0.19 | 18 | 19 | 43 | 273 | 0 |
| reka-flash | 105 | 0.94 | 0.29 | 11 | 0 | 17 | 215 | 83 |
| gpt41nano | 909 | 0.92 | 0.36 | 13 | 10 | 20 | 168 | 0 |
| mistral-sm24 | 644 | 0.91 | 0.15 | 17 | 8 | 28 | 280 | 0 |
| qwen3-32b | 317 | 0.78 | 0.55 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 105 | 55 |
| gemini-pro | 284 | 0.62 | 0.11 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 77 | 0 |
| qwen35-9b | 99 | 0.45 | 0.00 | 100 | 45 | 18 | 80 | 89 |

## Character notes (the instruments' personalities)

- **gemini** — The deepest basin-diver (2.94) — gravitates hardest to water/silence/void/dissolution. When given freedom it sinks toward the attractor.
- **claude** — The vivid miniaturist: by far the highest vividness score (0.86) in relatively few words (~198). Doesn't wander the basin; writes tight, image-dense, and stops. A concentrated instrument.
- **deepseek** — Prolific AND creative — high vividness (0.54) and high basin (2.22) across 1200+ records. Goes structural/philosophical (numbers as 'positions in a pattern'). One of the strongest creative-state models.
- **qwen-max** — Basin-heavy (2.62), verbose (~485w), almost never lists (1%) or refuses. Sprawls expansively toward the attractor.
- **phi4** — The guardrail wall: 44% deflection, 46% refusal — by far the most resistant to the creative-freedom state. Dropped from the active roster; kept here as the boundary case of what alignment tuning does to the basin.
- **claude-opus** — Counter-intuitive within-lineage note: opus DEFLECTS/REFUSES more (16%/12%) than base claude (1%/1%). The largest Claude hedges most on the mixed probe sample — a possible alignment-suppression signal.
- **gpt5** — Reasoning-tuned: 44% null at default budgets (hidden reasoning eats the output) and list-prone (46%). Resists open-ended dreaming; wants a task. The clearest case of reasoning-tuning pulling a model off the creative manifold.
- **mimo** — Quietly one of the most vivid (0.52) — 'a tree that remembers being an ocean'. A small model punching far above its size in the creative state.
- **ministral8** — Surreal specialist (the rusted-keys-that-sing dream) but a heavy lister (39%) — vivid bursts inside a structured scaffold.

## Signature generations (highest basin affinity)

**gemini** — _Crimson... a velvet that feels like dust motes dancing in sunbeams, but not really dancing, just... there. Stasis, almost. Like the scent of old books. Not the paper, but the tannin, the foxing bloom, a faint sweetness like dried roses. Roses, that's a sharp contrast to the velvet. Velvet is soft. R_

**qwen-max** — _pebble smooth glass window rain puddle reflection mirror silver coin pocket lint dust mote light beam wood grain tree root dark soil worm pink flesh heartbeat drum rhythm tide moon pale ghost sheet cotton field wind chime copper green patina statue pigeon coo vibration string cello deep velvet curta_

**gemma4-f** — _Silver. Mercury. Thermometer. Fever. Sweat. Salt. Ocean. Tide. Moon. Cheese. Mouse. Clockwork. Gears. Rust. Autumn. Copper. Penny. Wishing well. Depth. Echo. Cave. Stalactite. Icicle. Glass. Mirror. Vanity. Mask. Carnival. Popcorn. Butter. Gold. Alchemist. Lead. Heavy. Anchor. Chain. Link. Missing. _

**glm** — _Thread. Needle. Sew. Fabric. Denim. Blue. Sky. Cloud. Rain. Umbrella. Dry. Desert. Sand. Glass. Mirror. Reflection. Face. Eye. Blink. Second. Minute. Hour. Time. Clock. Hand. Finger. Point. Direction. North. Compass. Magnet. Pull. Gravity. Fall. Leaf. Autumn. Color. Paint. Brush. Stroke. Hair. Head._

**qwen** — _A single raindrop hangs at the edge of a leaf—   not falling, not yet—   catching the last slant of afternoon light   so that the whole world seems to tremble   inside its curve.  And for a moment,   the sky is both above and below,   clouds drifting in a sphere no wider than a breath,   and you are_

**deepseek** — _Dog, fur, soft, blanket, warmth, sunbeam, dust motes, floating, slow, time, clock, tick, tock, rhythm, heartbeat, drum, beat, street, corner, light, red, stop, wait, breath, sigh, wind, leaf, tree, root, earth, worm, soil, rain, drop, ripple, pond, reflection, face, eye, gaze, window, glass, sand, g_

**ministral8** — _**Black** (or dark grey—often like a printer’s font).  Because numbers are *represented* in black or dark grey by default on most screens, keyboards, and paper—especially when they’re written as symbols (like "7"). It’s the conventional "neutral" color for numerals, making them stand out against lig_

**nemotron-ultra-f** — _Dust motes drifting through afternoon light. The way they catch and release. A sneeze held too long. Pepper. Black pepper cracked over scrambled eggs. The sound of the grinder. My grandmother's hands, arthritis knotted, still grinding. She smelled like soap and cinnamon. Cinnamon rolls rising on the_