diff --git a/internal/phraser/llmphraser.go b/internal/phraser/llmphraser.go
index 1cb5fc9..d03d8e2 100644
--- a/internal/phraser/llmphraser.go
+++ b/internal/phraser/llmphraser.go
@@ -250,6 +250,12 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseNudge(ctx context.Context, c loop.Candidate) (deliver
 		// The model said nothing usable. Say it in Russian anyway — this text
 		// goes straight to a Russian piper voice, so the old "water — care"
 		// fallback was unspeakable.
+		//
+		// It says so in the log now (V-397). A clean parse of {"response":""}
+		// left no trace at all: the nudge went out in template Russian and
+		// nothing recorded that the model had been asked and had answered with
+		// an empty field.
+		log.Printf("phraser: PhraseNudge: empty response for rule %q, using the plain Russian fallback", c.Rule.Name)
 		body = fallbackNudge(c)
 	}
 	if mood == "" {
@@ -272,38 +278,47 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseQuery(ctx context.Context, utterance string, notes []
 	notes = nonEmpty(notes)
 	if len(notes) == 0 {
 		sys, prompt := p.knowledgePrompt(utterance)
-		resp, err := p.chatWithSystem(ctx, sys, prompt, 768)
+		text, raw, err := p.generate(ctx, "phrase query (knowledge)", sys, prompt, 768)
 		if err != nil {
-			return UnknownFallback(), fmt.Errorf("phrase query (knowledge): %w", err)
+			return UnknownFallback(), err
 		}
-		if resp == "" {
+		if raw == "" {
 			return UnknownFallback(), errEmptyResponse
 		}
-		text, _, perr := parseResponseMood(resp)
-		if perr != nil {
-			return UnknownFallback(), fmt.Errorf("phrase query (knowledge): %w", perr)
-		}
 		if text != "" {
 			return text, nil
 		}
-		return resp, nil
+		return raw, nil
 	}
 	sys, prompt := p.evidencePrompt(utterance, notes)
-	resp, err := p.chatWithSystem(ctx, sys, prompt, 768)
-	text, _, perr := parseResponseMood(resp)
-	if err != nil || perr != nil {
+	text, raw, err := p.generate(ctx, "phrase query (evidence)", sys, prompt, 768)
+	if err != nil {
 		// Read the notes out rather than ship a broken fragment.
-		cause := err
-		if cause == nil {
-			cause = perr
-		}
-		return SourcesFallback(strings.Join(notes, "; ")),
-			fmt.Errorf("phrase query (evidence): %w", cause)
+		return SourcesFallback(strings.Join(notes, "; ")), err
 	}
 	if text != "" {
 		return text, nil
 	}
-	return resp, nil
+	return raw, nil
+}
+
+// generate asks the model one question and reads the reply contract off the
+// answer. text is what she said, raw is what the model actually wrote — the
+// callers that ship bare prose when the model skipped the JSON need both.
+//
+// where names the path for the error, which every caller wraps identically.
+// An error here always means the caller must use its fallback: a transport
+// failure, or a generation that opened a JSON object and never closed it.
+func (p *LLMPhraser) generate(ctx context.Context, where, sys, user string, maxTokens int) (text, raw string, err error) {
+	raw, err = p.chatWithSystem(ctx, sys, user, maxTokens)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", raw, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", where, err)
+	}
+	text, _, perr := parseResponseMood(raw)
+	if perr != nil {
+		return "", raw, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", where, perr)
+	}
+	return text, raw, nil
 }
 
 // PhraseChat uses the LLM to respond conversationally, building a multi-turn
@@ -390,6 +405,10 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseReminder(ctx context.Context, d loop.ReminderDecision
 		body, mood = "", ""
 	}
 	if body == "" {
+		// Same silence as PhraseNudge had (V-397): she reads the reminder's own
+		// text out, which is fine, but nothing said the model had produced
+		// nothing.
+		log.Printf("phraser: PhraseReminder: empty response, reading the reminder text out instead")
 		body = text
 	}
 	if mood == "" {
@@ -416,14 +435,9 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) chat(ctx context.Context, userPrompt string) (string, error
 // is already a readable answer, which is why this needs no separate fallback.
 func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseSelf(ctx context.Context, utterance, description string) (string, error) {
 	sys, prompt := p.selfPrompt(utterance, description)
-	resp, err := p.chatWithSystem(ctx, sys, prompt, 768)
-	text, _, perr := parseResponseMood(resp)
-	if err != nil || perr != nil {
-		cause := err
-		if cause == nil {
-			cause = perr
-		}
-		return description, fmt.Errorf("phrase self: %w", cause)
+	text, _, err := p.generate(ctx, "phrase self", sys, prompt, 768)
+	if err != nil {
+		return description, err
 	}
 	if text != "" {
 		return text, nil