fix(subtitles): collapse layered ASS lyrics across startup and seeks

- Reconstruct fragment-only karaoke while preserving canonical animated signs
- Reprocess live subtitles after initial playback and seek updates
- Add a development launcher for playable media files

changes/fix-primary-ass-layer-duplication.md

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 type: fixed
 area: subtitles
 
-- Primary ASS subtitles now use the active parsed cue when it fully accounts for mpv's live text, preventing fill, border, blur, and shadow copies of the same full-span lyric from appearing repeatedly while preserving unmatched overlapping dialogue and signs.
+- Primary and secondary ASS subtitles now collapse layered and whitespace variants of full-span lyrics, including when playback starts or seeks into a line, reconstruct fragment-only karaoke per style, preserve authored stack order, and keep canonical signs visible for their complete generated animation while preserving unmatched dialogue and signs.

docs/architecture/subtitle-overlay-priming.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # Subtitle Overlay Priming
 
 Status: active
-Last verified: 2026-08-18
+Last verified: 2026-08-19
 Owner: Kyle Yasuda
 Read when: debugging subtitle state or blank Linux/X11 overlay windows when the visible overlay is shown or recreated
 
@@ -71,11 +71,16 @@ coming and prefetching would otherwise idle for the rest of the cue.
 
 - Primary live text first resolves recovered canonical ASS animations. Otherwise, when
   every live mpv line matches an active parsed cue, it uses the parsed cue text so exact
-  full-span style layers appear once instead of repeating for fill, border, blur, and
+  full-span style layers appear once instead of repeating for fill, border, blur, shadow,
-  shadow events. Any unmatched live line keeps the complete live stack, preserving
+  or equivalent whitespace variants. Any unmatched live line keeps the complete live
-  dialogue or signs that overlap a lyric.
+  stack, preserving dialogue or signs that overlap a lyric.
 - A tokenization cache miss emits the plain cue synchronously. Tokenization remains serialized so
   live work does not contend for Yomitan state.
+- The initial `time-pos` and later seek-like jumps reprocess mpv's current raw `sub-text` after the
+  new playback time is stored. This corrects ASS cleanup when mpv delivered the destination
+  subtitle before the destination timestamp.
+- If startup paints raw text before embedded ASS parsing finishes, parsed cue arrival may replace
+  that provisional line. The one-prime-per-media guard still suppresses identical repeats.
 - If a newer cue arrives while an older line is still tokenizing, the newer plain cue or empty
   clear payload is emitted immediately. The older tokenization result is dropped before it can
   replace the current cue.
@@ -95,6 +100,18 @@ coming and prefetching would otherwise idle for the rest of the cue.
 - The resolved text is stored in `mpvClient.currentSecondarySubText` before it is broadcast. The
   overlay, mining, timing tracker, and immersion statistics therefore consume the same secondary
   text when a readable source is available.
+- Simultaneous parsed cues use whitespace-insensitive identity, so ASS layers that vary only
+  between ordinary, hard, or ideographic spaces appear once.
+- Simultaneous ASS lines are flattened in top-to-bottom positioned order, falling back to their
+  authored source order when no usable position exists.
+- Fragment-only ASS karaoke is reconstructed per style before publication. Explicit spaces
+  survive concatenation, while scripts that discarded their word boundaries remain compact
+  instead of gaining false spaces between syllables. Short runs qualify only when overlapping
+  positioned events also show changing overrides or repeated layer copies; an English or romaji
+  style name alone never turns ordinary dialogue into a lyric.
+- Recovered canonical ASS text remains active for the generated animation envelope. For
+  reconstructed lyric styles, the longest-lived active line wins over brief entrance and exit
+  fragments from the same style.
 - Media and `secondary-sid` changes clear the previous parsed state before refreshing the source;
   track-list changes refresh without discarding an unchanged source. Observed
   `secondary-sub-delay` changes retime the active parsed cue without rereading the file. If loading,

scripts/dev.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+FILE="${1:-}"
+
+if [[ ! -f "$FILE" ]]; then
+	printf 'Not a file: %s\n' "${FILE:-<missing>}" >&2
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! mpv --no-config --no-terminal --msg-level=all=no --vo=null --ao=null --frames=1 -- "$FILE"; then
+	printf 'Not playable by mpv: %s\n' "$FILE" >&2
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+exec subminer app --dev --launch-mpv "$FILE"

src/core/services/subtitle-cue-dedup.ts

@@ -149,8 +149,8 @@ function collectRepeatedPhaseRuns(cues: AnnotatedSubtitleCue[]): RepeatedPhaseRu
       const isFlush =
         Math.abs(next.startTime - current.endTime) <= DUPLICATE_CUE_GAP_TOLERANCE_SECONDS;
       if (
-        first.source === 'canonical-ass' ||
+        first.source !== undefined ||
-        next.source === 'canonical-ass' ||
+        next.source !== undefined ||
         next.text !== first.text ||
         assStyleKey(next) !== styleKey ||
         !isFlush
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ function countFramesShorterThan(run: AnnotatedSubtitleCue[], maxSeconds: number)
  * anything wrapped in `\t(...)`), an animated `Effect` column, or a value that actually
  * changes from event to event, which is how per-frame typesetting is authored.
  */
-export function hasAssAnimationEvidence(run: AnnotatedSubtitleCue[]): boolean {
+export function hasAssAnimationEvidence(run: readonly AnnotatedSubtitleCue[]): boolean {
   if (run.every((cue) => hasAssTemporalOverride(cue.overrides))) {
     return true;
   }

src/core/services/subtitle-cue-parser.test.ts

@@ -570,6 +570,63 @@ test('parseSubtitleCues does not promote a short animated fragment as a complete
   );
 });
 
+test('parseSubtitleCues keeps short animated English dialogue as separate cues', () => {
+  const content = [
+    '[Events]',
+    'Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text',
+    'Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.00,0:00:02.00,English Dialogue,,0,0,0,,{\\t(0,100,\\fscx110)}Hi',
+    'Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.00,0:00:03.00,English Dialogue,,0,0,0,,{\\t(0,100,\\fscx110)}No',
+  ].join('\n');
+
+  assert.deepEqual(parseSubtitleCues(content, 'test.ass'), [
+    { startTime: 1, endTime: 2, text: 'Hi' },
+    { startTime: 2, endTime: 3, text: 'No' },
+  ]);
+});
+
+test('parseSubtitleCues does not reconstruct an already canonical English cue', () => {
+  const content = [
+    '[Events]',
+    'Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text',
+    'Comment: 0,0:00:01.00,0:00:03.00,OP English,,0,0,0,,{\\move(100,100,120,100)}POOF',
+    'Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.00,0:00:01.04,OP English,,0,0,0,,{\\pos(100,100)\\clip(m 1 1)}POOF',
+    'Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.04,0:00:01.08,OP English,,0,0,0,,{\\pos(100,100)\\clip(m 2 2)}POOF',
+    'Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.08,0:00:03.00,OP English,,0,0,0,,{\\pos(100,100)\\clip(m 3 3)}POOF',
+  ].join('\n');
+
+  assert.deepEqual(parseSubtitleCues(content, 'test.ass'), [
+    {
+      startTime: 1,
+      endTime: 3,
+      text: 'POOF',
+      source: 'canonical-ass',
+      animationStartTime: 1,
+      animationEndTime: 3,
+    },
+  ]);
+});
+
+test('parseSubtitleCues reconstructs a short positioned fragment without a lyric style name', () => {
+  const content = [
+    '[Events]',
+    'Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text',
+    'Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.00,0:00:03.00,Karaoke,,0,0,0,,{\\pos(100,100)\\t(0,100,\\fscx110)}Oh',
+    'Dialogue: 1,0:00:01.00,0:00:03.00,Karaoke,,0,0,0,,{\\pos(100,100)\\t(0,100,\\fscx110)}Oh',
+  ].join('\n');
+
+  assert.deepEqual(parseSubtitleCues(content, 'test.ass'), [
+    {
+      startTime: 1,
+      endTime: 3,
+      text: 'Oh',
+      source: 'reconstructed-ass',
+      animationStartTime: 1,
+      animationEndTime: 3,
+      assStyle: 'Karaoke',
+    },
+  ]);
+});
+
 test('parseSubtitleCues ignores timed comments without a matching animated dialogue cluster', () => {
   const content = [
     '[Events]',

src/core/services/subtitle-cue-parser.ts

@@ -8,19 +8,26 @@ import {
 } from './ass-text';
 import { hasAssAnimationEvidence, mergeDuplicateCues } from './subtitle-cue-dedup';
 
+export type AssCueLayout =
+  | { kind: 'positioned'; sourceOrder: number; y: number }
+  | { kind: 'source-order'; sourceOrder: number };
+
 export interface SubtitleCue {
   startTime: number;
   endTime: number;
   text: string;
-  /** A complete authored line recovered from matching generated ASS animation events. */
+  /** How a complete line was recovered from generated ASS animation events. */
-  source?: 'canonical-ass';
+  source?: 'canonical-ass' | 'reconstructed-ass';
   /**
-   * Full span of the generated animation events a canonical cue replaced. Entrance and
+   * Full span of the generated animation events a recovered cue replaced. Entrance and
-   * exit frames routinely run past the authored `startTime`/`endTime`, so live-text
+   * exit frames can run past canonical authored timing.
-   * matching must use this envelope while display and history keep the authored timing.
    */
   animationStartTime?: number;
   animationEndTime?: number;
+  /** ASS style retained only for fragment-reconstructed lines. */
+  assStyle?: string;
+  /** Authored ASS ordering metadata used when flattening simultaneous positioned cues. */
+  assLayout?: AssCueLayout;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -29,7 +36,7 @@ export interface SubtitleCue {
  * override commands it carries, whether the `Effect` column was set -- to tell a karaoke
  * burst apart from two characters saying the same word in turn. None of it is meaningful
  * outside the parser, so the public API exposes only timing, text, and the optional
- * canonical-source marker used by live subtitle consumers.
+ * recovery marker used by live subtitle consumers.
  */
 export interface AnnotatedSubtitleCue extends SubtitleCue {
   /** Text exactly as authored, override blocks and all. */
@@ -75,15 +82,55 @@ function parseTimestamp(
  * line breaks, matching what mpv hands over for the same line played live. No layer
  * downstream decodes ASS again.
  */
+function decodeSubtitleCueText(text: string): string {
+  return assToPlainText(text, '\n').replace(HTML_SUBTITLE_TAG_PATTERN, '');
+}
+
 function sanitizeSubtitleCueText(text: string): string {
-  return assToPlainText(text, '\n').replace(HTML_SUBTITLE_TAG_PATTERN, '').trim();
+  return decodeSubtitleCueText(text).trim();
+}
+
+function attachAssLayout<T extends SubtitleCue>(cue: T, assLayout: AssCueLayout | undefined): T {
+  if (assLayout) {
+    Object.defineProperty(cue, 'assLayout', { value: assLayout, enumerable: false });
+  }
+  return cue;
 }
 
 function toPublicCues(cues: AnnotatedSubtitleCue[]): SubtitleCue[] {
-  return cues.map(({ startTime, endTime, text, source, animationStartTime, animationEndTime }) =>
+  return cues.map(
-    source
+    ({
-      ? { startTime, endTime, text, source, animationStartTime, animationEndTime }
+      startTime,
-      : { startTime, endTime, text },
+      endTime,
+      text,
+      source,
+      animationStartTime,
+      animationEndTime,
+      style,
+      assLayout,
+    }) => {
+      const common = {
+        startTime,
+        endTime,
+        text,
+      };
+      if (source === 'reconstructed-ass') {
+        return attachAssLayout(
+          {
+            ...common,
+            source,
+            animationStartTime,
+            animationEndTime,
+            assStyle: style,
+          },
+          assLayout,
+        );
+      }
+      return attachAssLayout(
+        source ? { ...common, source, animationStartTime, animationEndTime } : common,
+        assLayout,
+      );
+    },
   );
 }
 
@@ -159,6 +206,10 @@ const MIN_CANONICAL_ANIMATION_EVENTS = 3;
 // A tiny animated fragment can itself be composed from still smaller glyph events. It is
 // not enough evidence that the fragment represents an authored line boundary.
 const MIN_CANONICAL_DIALOGUE_TEXT_LENGTH = 4;
+const MIN_FRAGMENT_LINE_EVENTS = 8;
+const MIN_FRAGMENT_LINE_PARTS = 4;
+const MAX_FRAGMENT_MEDIAN_LENGTH = 4;
+const MAX_FRAGMENT_LINE_TIMING_VARIANCE_SECONDS = 2;
 
 function parseAssTimestamp(raw: string): number | null {
   const match = ASS_TIMING_PATTERN.exec(raw.trim());
@@ -296,6 +347,215 @@ function isRepeatedFragmentCopy(
   );
 }
 
+function hasRelaxedAssFragmentEvidence(events: readonly AnnotatedSubtitleCue[]): boolean {
+  if (events.length < 2 || !events.every((event) => fragmentPlacementAnchors(event).size > 0)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const latestStart = events.reduce(
+    (latest, event) => Math.max(latest, event.startTime),
+    -Infinity,
+  );
+  const earliestEnd = events.reduce(
+    (earliest, event) => Math.min(earliest, event.endTime),
+    Infinity,
+  );
+  if (latestStart >= earliestEnd) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const first = events[0]!;
+  const hasChangingOverrides = events.some(
+    (event) => event.overrideSignature !== first.overrideSignature,
+  );
+  const hasPositionedLayerCopy = events.some((event, index) =>
+    events
+      .slice(0, index)
+      .some(
+        (previous) =>
+          compactCueMatchText(previous) === compactCueMatchText(event) &&
+          isRepeatedFragmentCopy(previous, event),
+      ),
+  );
+  return hasChangingOverrides || hasPositionedLayerCopy;
+}
+
+interface AssFragmentPart {
+  cue: AnnotatedSubtitleCue;
+  text: string;
+}
+
+interface AssFragmentTimingCluster {
+  events: AnnotatedSubtitleCue[];
+  minStartTime: number;
+  maxStartTime: number;
+  minEndTime: number;
+  maxEndTime: number;
+}
+
+function addToFragmentTimingCluster(
+  cluster: AssFragmentTimingCluster,
+  cue: AnnotatedSubtitleCue,
+): void {
+  cluster.events.push(cue);
+  cluster.minStartTime = Math.min(cluster.minStartTime, cue.startTime);
+  cluster.maxStartTime = Math.max(cluster.maxStartTime, cue.startTime);
+  cluster.minEndTime = Math.min(cluster.minEndTime, cue.endTime);
+  cluster.maxEndTime = Math.max(cluster.maxEndTime, cue.endTime);
+}
+
+function fragmentTimingDistance(
+  cluster: AssFragmentTimingCluster,
+  cue: AnnotatedSubtitleCue,
+): number {
+  const nextMinStart = Math.min(cluster.minStartTime, cue.startTime);
+  const nextMaxStart = Math.max(cluster.maxStartTime, cue.startTime);
+  const nextMinEnd = Math.min(cluster.minEndTime, cue.endTime);
+  const nextMaxEnd = Math.max(cluster.maxEndTime, cue.endTime);
+  if (
+    nextMaxStart - nextMinStart > MAX_FRAGMENT_LINE_TIMING_VARIANCE_SECONDS ||
+    nextMaxEnd - nextMinEnd > MAX_FRAGMENT_LINE_TIMING_VARIANCE_SECONDS
+  ) {
+    return Infinity;
+  }
+  return (
+    Math.abs(cue.startTime - (cluster.minStartTime + cluster.maxStartTime) / 2) +
+    Math.abs(cue.endTime - (cluster.minEndTime + cluster.maxEndTime) / 2)
+  );
+}
+
+function clusterAssFragmentEvents(
+  events: readonly AnnotatedSubtitleCue[],
+): AssFragmentTimingCluster[] {
+  const clusters: AssFragmentTimingCluster[] = [];
+  for (const cue of events) {
+    let nearest: AssFragmentTimingCluster | null = null;
+    let nearestDistance = Infinity;
+    for (const cluster of clusters) {
+      const distance = fragmentTimingDistance(cluster, cue);
+      if (distance < nearestDistance) {
+        nearest = cluster;
+        nearestDistance = distance;
+      }
+    }
+    if (nearest) {
+      addToFragmentTimingCluster(nearest, cue);
+    } else {
+      clusters.push({
+        events: [cue],
+        minStartTime: cue.startTime,
+        maxStartTime: cue.startTime,
+        minEndTime: cue.endTime,
+        maxEndTime: cue.endTime,
+      });
+    }
+  }
+  return clusters;
+}
+
+function decodeSingleAssFragment(cue: AnnotatedSubtitleCue): string | null {
+  const visibleLines = decodeSubtitleCueText(cue.rawText)
+    .split('\n')
+    .filter((line) => line.trim().length > 0);
+  return visibleLines.length === 1 ? visibleLines[0]! : null;
+}
+
+function reconstructAssFragmentLine(
+  events: readonly AnnotatedSubtitleCue[],
+): AnnotatedSubtitleCue | null {
+  const hasRelaxedEvidence = hasRelaxedAssFragmentEvidence(events);
+  const minimumEvents = hasRelaxedEvidence ? 2 : MIN_FRAGMENT_LINE_EVENTS;
+  if (events.length < minimumEvents || !hasAssAnimationEvidence(events)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const parts: AssFragmentPart[] = [];
+  for (const cue of events) {
+    const text = decodeSingleAssFragment(cue);
+    if (text === null) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    const compactText = compactAssMatchText(text);
+    const isLayerCopy = parts.some(
+      (part) =>
+        compactAssMatchText(part.text) === compactText && isRepeatedFragmentCopy(part.cue, cue),
+    );
+    if (!isLayerCopy) {
+      parts.push({ cue, text });
+    }
+  }
+
+  const minimumParts = hasRelaxedEvidence ? 1 : MIN_FRAGMENT_LINE_PARTS;
+  if (parts.length < minimumParts || (!hasRelaxedEvidence && parts.length === events.length)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const lengths = parts
+    .map((part) => compactAssMatchText(part.text).length)
+    .sort((left, right) => left - right);
+  if ((lengths[Math.floor(lengths.length / 2)] ?? Infinity) > MAX_FRAGMENT_MEDIAN_LENGTH) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const text = parts
+    .map((part) => part.text)
+    .join('')
+    .trim();
+  if (!text) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const owner = parts[0]!.cue;
+  const animationStartTime = earliestStartTime(events);
+  const animationEndTime = latestEndTime(events);
+  return {
+    ...owner,
+    startTime: animationStartTime,
+    endTime: animationEndTime,
+    text,
+    rawText: text,
+    source: 'reconstructed-ass',
+    animationStartTime,
+    animationEndTime,
+    overrides: [],
+    overrideSignature: '',
+  };
+}
+
+function recoverFragmentOnlyAssLines(dialogue: AnnotatedSubtitleCue[]): AnnotatedSubtitleCue[] {
+  const groups = new Map<string, AnnotatedSubtitleCue[]>();
+  for (const cue of dialogue) {
+    if (cue.source !== undefined) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    const key = assEventGroupKey(cue);
+    const group = groups.get(key);
+    if (group) {
+      group.push(cue);
+    } else {
+      groups.set(key, [cue]);
+    }
+  }
+
+  const recovered: AnnotatedSubtitleCue[] = [];
+  const suppressed = new Set<AnnotatedSubtitleCue>();
+  for (const events of groups.values()) {
+    for (const cluster of clusterAssFragmentEvents(events)) {
+      const line = reconstructAssFragmentLine(cluster.events);
+      if (!line) {
+        continue;
+      }
+      recovered.push(line);
+      cluster.events.forEach((event) => suppressed.add(event));
+    }
+  }
+  if (recovered.length === 0) {
+    return dialogue;
+  }
+  return [...dialogue.filter((cue) => !suppressed.has(cue)), ...recovered].sort(
+    (left, right) =>
+      left.startTime - right.startTime || left.endTime - right.endTime || left.order - right.order,
+  );
+}
+
 function groupConsecutiveAssFragments(events: readonly AnnotatedSubtitleCue[]): FragmentGroup[] {
   const groups: FragmentGroup[] = [];
   for (const event of events) {
@@ -507,6 +767,37 @@ function recoverCanonicalAssEvents({
   );
 }
 
+function parseAssCoordinate(value: string | undefined): number | null {
+  if (!value?.trim()) return null;
+  const coordinate = Number(value.trim());
+  return Number.isFinite(coordinate) ? coordinate : null;
+}
+
+function buildAssCueLayout(
+  overrides: readonly AssOverrideCommand[],
+  sourceOrder: number,
+): AssCueLayout {
+  let y: number | null = null;
+  for (const command of overrides) {
+    if (command.animated) continue;
+    const name = command.name.toLowerCase();
+    const args = command.args.split(',');
+    if (name === 'pos') {
+      y = parseAssCoordinate(args[1]) ?? y;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (name !== 'move') continue;
+    const startY = parseAssCoordinate(args[1]);
+    const endY = parseAssCoordinate(args[3]);
+    if (startY !== null && endY !== null) {
+      y = (startY + endY) / 2;
+    }
+  }
+  return y === null
+    ? { kind: 'source-order', sourceOrder }
+    : { kind: 'positioned', sourceOrder, y };
+}
+
 function parseAnnotatedAssEvents(content: string): ParsedAssEvents {
   const cues: AnnotatedSubtitleCue[] = [];
   const comments: AnnotatedSubtitleCue[] = [];
@@ -615,6 +906,7 @@ function parseAnnotatedAssEvents(content: string): ParsedAssEvents {
       overrides,
       overrideSignature: assOverrideSignature(overrides),
       order: eventOrder,
+      assLayout: buildAssCueLayout(overrides, eventOrder),
     };
     eventOrder += 1;
     if (eventPrefix === ASS_COMMENT_PREFIX) {
@@ -628,7 +920,7 @@ function parseAnnotatedAssEvents(content: string): ParsedAssEvents {
 }
 
 function parseAnnotatedAssCues(content: string): AnnotatedSubtitleCue[] {
-  return recoverCanonicalAssEvents(parseAnnotatedAssEvents(content));
+  return recoverFragmentOnlyAssLines(recoverCanonicalAssEvents(parseAnnotatedAssEvents(content)));
 }
 
 export function parseAssCues(content: string): SubtitleCue[] {

src/main/runtime/autoplay-subtitle-priming-runtime.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import test from 'node:test';
+import { parseSubtitleCues } from '../../core/services/subtitle-cue-parser';
 import { createSubtitleProcessingController } from '../../core/services/subtitle-processing-controller';
 import type { SubtitleData } from '../../types';
 import {
@@ -211,6 +212,69 @@ test('primeCurrentSubtitleForAutoplay emits raw first paint on cache miss before
   ]);
 });
 
+test('parsed cues replace a duplicate raw autoplay subtitle that was already primed', async () => {
+  const rawText = 'ジグザグな道を抜け\nジグザグな道を抜け';
+  const correctedText = 'ジグザグな道を抜け';
+  const mediaPath = '/media/video.mkv';
+  let currentSubText = '';
+  const emitted: string[] = [];
+  const client = {
+    connected: true,
+    currentVideoPath: mediaPath,
+    currentTimePos: 90,
+    currentSubText: rawText,
+    requestProperty: async (name: string) => {
+      if (name === 'sub-text') return rawText;
+      if (name === 'time-pos') return 90;
+      return null;
+    },
+  };
+  const cues = parseSubtitleCues(
+    [
+      '[Events]',
+      'Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text',
+      `Dialogue: 1,0:01:29.00,0:01:32.00,EDJP,,0,0,0,,${correctedText}`,
+      `Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.00,0:01:32.00,EDJP,,0,0,0,,${correctedText}`,
+    ].join('\n'),
+    'startup-ending.ass',
+  );
+  let activeCues = cues.slice(0, 0);
+  const runtime = createAutoplaySubtitlePrimingRuntime({
+    getCurrentMediaPath: () => mediaPath,
+    getMpvClient: () => client,
+    setCurrentSubText: (text) => {
+      currentSubText = text;
+    },
+    getCurrentSubText: () => currentSubText,
+    getCurrentSubtitleData: () => null,
+    getActiveParsedSubtitleCues: () => activeCues,
+    setActiveParsedSubtitleMediaPath: () => {},
+    subtitleProcessingController: {
+      consumeCachedSubtitle: () => null,
+      onSubtitleChange: () => true,
+      refreshCurrentSubtitle: () => true,
+      notePlainSubtitleEmitted: () => {},
+    },
+    emitSubtitlePayload: (payload) => emitted.push(payload.text),
+    getSubtitlePrefetchService: () => null,
+    getLastObservedTimePos: () => 90,
+    getVisibleOverlayVisible: () => true,
+    emitSecondarySubtitle: () => {},
+    initSubtitlePrefetch: async () => {},
+    refreshSubtitlePrefetchFromActiveTrack: async () => {},
+    logDebug: () => {},
+  });
+
+  await runtime.primeCurrentSubtitleForAutoplay(mediaPath);
+  assert.equal(currentSubText, rawText);
+
+  activeCues = cues;
+  await runtime.primeAutoplaySubtitleFromParsedCues(mediaPath, cues);
+
+  assert.equal(currentSubText, correctedText);
+  assert.deepEqual(emitted, [rawText, correctedText]);
+});
+
 // Driven by the real processing controller rather than a stub: the failure this
 // covers is a disagreement between the priming path and the controller's own
 // staleness rules, which a hand-written stub cannot reproduce.

src/main/runtime/autoplay-subtitle-priming-runtime.ts

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ type AutoplaySubtitlePrimingMpvClient = {
   requestProperty: (name: string) => Promise<unknown>;
   currentVideoPath?: string;
   currentTimePos?: number;
+  currentSubText?: string;
   currentSecondarySubText?: string;
   setCurrentSecondarySubText?: (text: string) => void;
 };
@@ -107,11 +108,19 @@ export function createAutoplaySubtitlePrimingRuntime(deps: AutoplaySubtitlePrimi
     autoplaySubtitlePrimedMediaPath = null;
   }
 
-  function emitAutoplayPrimedSubtitle(mediaPath: string, text: string): boolean {
+  function emitAutoplayPrimedSubtitle(
+    mediaPath: string,
+    text: string,
+    options: { replaceExisting?: boolean } = {},
+  ): boolean {
     if (!text.trim() || !isCurrentAutoplayMediaPath(mediaPath)) {
       return false;
     }
-    if (!markAutoplaySubtitlePrimeConsumed(mediaPath)) {
+    if (autoplaySubtitlePrimedMediaPath === mediaPath) {
+      if (!options.replaceExisting || deps.getCurrentSubText() === text) {
+        return false;
+      }
+    } else if (!markAutoplaySubtitlePrimeConsumed(mediaPath)) {
       return false;
     }
 
@@ -252,11 +261,7 @@ export function createAutoplaySubtitlePrimingRuntime(deps: AutoplaySubtitlePrimi
     mediaPath: string,
     cues: SubtitleCue[],
   ): Promise<void> {
-    if (
+    if (cues.length === 0 || !isCurrentAutoplayMediaPath(mediaPath)) {
-      cues.length === 0 ||
-      autoplaySubtitlePrimedMediaPath === mediaPath ||
-      !isCurrentAutoplayMediaPath(mediaPath)
-    ) {
       return;
     }
 
@@ -265,16 +270,21 @@ export function createAutoplaySubtitlePrimingRuntime(deps: AutoplaySubtitlePrimi
     const currentTimeSeconds = Number(
       timePosRaw ?? client?.currentTimePos ?? deps.getLastObservedTimePos() ?? 0,
     );
+    const resolvedTimeSeconds = Number.isFinite(currentTimeSeconds) ? currentTimeSeconds : 0;
     const cue = selectAutoplayStartupCue(
       cues,
-      Number.isFinite(currentTimeSeconds) ? currentTimeSeconds : 0,
+      resolvedTimeSeconds,
       AUTOPLAY_SUBTITLE_PRIME_LOOKAHEAD_SECONDS,
     );
-    if (!cue) {
+    const liveText = client?.currentSubText ?? '';
+    const text = liveText.trim()
+      ? resolvePrimarySubtitleText({ liveText, currentTimeSec: resolvedTimeSeconds, cues })
+      : (cue?.text ?? '');
+    if (!text) {
       return;
     }
 
-    emitAutoplayPrimedSubtitle(mediaPath, cue.text);
+    emitAutoplayPrimedSubtitle(mediaPath, text, { replaceExisting: true });
   }
 
   function clearScheduledSubtitlePrefetchRefresh(): void {

src/main/runtime/mpv-main-event-actions.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ type AnilistPostWatchRunOptions = {
   watchedSeconds?: number;
 };
 
+type TimePosUpdateKind = 'initial' | 'playback' | 'seek';
+
 /** Jump size that marks a time-pos change as a seek rather than normal playback. */
 export const SEEK_LIKE_TIME_DELTA_SECONDS = 2.5;
 
@@ -138,12 +140,18 @@ export function createHandleMpvTimePosChangeHandler(deps: {
   refreshDiscordPresence: () => void;
   maybeRunAnilistPostWatchUpdate?: (options?: AnilistPostWatchRunOptions) => Promise<void>;
   logError?: (message: string, error: unknown) => void;
-  onTimePosUpdate?: (time: number) => void;
+  onTimePosUpdate?: (time: number, kind: TimePosUpdateKind) => void;
 }) {
   let lastObservedTime: number | null = null;
 
   return ({ time }: { time: number }): void => {
-    const forceImmediate = isSeekLikeTimeChange(lastObservedTime, time);
+    const updateKind: TimePosUpdateKind =
+      lastObservedTime === null
+        ? 'initial'
+        : isSeekLikeTimeChange(lastObservedTime, time)
+          ? 'seek'
+          : 'playback';
+    const forceImmediate = updateKind === 'seek';
     if (Number.isFinite(time)) {
       lastObservedTime = time;
     }
@@ -153,7 +161,7 @@ export function createHandleMpvTimePosChangeHandler(deps: {
     void deps.maybeRunAnilistPostWatchUpdate?.({ watchedSeconds: time }).catch((error) => {
       deps.logError?.('AniList post-watch update failed unexpectedly', error);
     });
-    deps.onTimePosUpdate?.(time);
+    deps.onTimePosUpdate?.(time, updateKind);
   };
 }
 

src/main/runtime/mpv-main-event-bindings.test.ts

@@ -1,10 +1,23 @@
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import test from 'node:test';
+import { parseSubtitleCues } from '../../core/services/subtitle-cue-parser';
 import { createBindMpvMainEventHandlersHandler } from './mpv-main-event-bindings';
+import { resolvePrimarySubtitleText } from './primary-subtitle-text';
 
 test('main mpv event binder wires callbacks through to runtime deps', () => {
   const handlers = new Map<string, (payload: unknown) => void>();
   const calls: string[] = [];
+  let currentTime = 0;
+  const seekLiveText = '少しだけ好きになる\n少しだけ好きになる';
+  const seekCues = parseSubtitleCues(
+    [
+      '[Events]',
+      'Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text',
+      'Dialogue: 1,0:01:29.00,0:01:32.00,EDJP,,0,0,0,,少しだけ好きになる',
+      'Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.00,0:01:32.00,EDJP,,0,0,0,,少しだけ好きになる',
+    ].join('\n'),
+    'seek-ending.ass',
+  );
 
   const bind = createBindMpvMainEventHandlersHandler({
     reportJellyfinRemoteStopped: () => calls.push('remote-stopped'),
@@ -27,6 +40,9 @@ test('main mpv event binder wires callbacks through to runtime deps', () => {
       calls.push(`post-watch:${options?.watchedSeconds ?? 'none'}`);
     },
     logSubtitleTimingError: () => calls.push('subtitle-error'),
+    resolveSubtitleText: (liveText) =>
+      resolvePrimarySubtitleText({ liveText, currentTimeSec: currentTime, cues: seekCues }),
+    getCurrentLiveSubtitleText: () => seekLiveText,
     setCurrentSubText: (text) => calls.push(`set-sub:${text}`),
     getImmediateSubtitlePayload: (text) => ({ text, tokens: [] }),
     broadcastSubtitle: (payload) => calls.push(`broadcast-sub:${payload.text}`),
@@ -60,6 +76,9 @@ test('main mpv event binder wires callbacks through to runtime deps', () => {
     recordMediaDuration: (duration) => calls.push(`duration:${duration}`),
     reportJellyfinRemoteProgress: (forceImmediate) =>
       calls.push(`progress:${forceImmediate ? 'force' : 'normal'}`),
+    onTimePosUpdate: (time) => {
+      currentTime = time;
+    },
     recordPauseState: (paused) => calls.push(`pause:${paused ? 'yes' : 'no'}`),
 
     updateSubtitleRenderMetrics: () => calls.push('subtitle-metrics'),
@@ -83,7 +102,13 @@ test('main mpv event binder wires callbacks through to runtime deps', () => {
   handlers.get('media-path-change')?.({ path: '' });
   handlers.get('media-title-change')?.({ title: 'Episode 1' });
   handlers.get('subtitle-timing')?.({ text: 'timed line', start: 899, end: 901 });
+  handlers.get('subtitle-change')?.({ text: seekLiveText });
+  handlers.get('time-pos-change')?.({ time: 90 });
+  assert.ok(calls.includes('set-sub:少しだけ好きになる'));
+
   handlers.get('time-pos-change')?.({ time: 2.5 });
+  handlers.get('subtitle-change')?.({ text: seekLiveText });
+  handlers.get('time-pos-change')?.({ time: 90 });
   handlers.get('pause-change')?.({ paused: true });
 
   assert.ok(calls.includes('set-sub:line'));

src/main/runtime/mpv-main-event-bindings.ts

@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ export function createBindMpvMainEventHandlersHandler(deps: {
 
   setCurrentSubText: (text: string) => void;
   resolveSubtitleText?: (text: string) => string;
+  getCurrentLiveSubtitleText?: () => string;
   getImmediateSubtitlePayload?: (text: string) => SubtitleData | null;
   emitImmediateSubtitle?: (payload: SubtitleData) => void;
   broadcastSubtitle: (payload: SubtitleData) => void;
@@ -171,7 +172,14 @@ export function createBindMpvMainEventHandlersHandler(deps: {
       refreshDiscordPresence: () => deps.refreshDiscordPresence(),
       maybeRunAnilistPostWatchUpdate: (options) => deps.maybeRunAnilistPostWatchUpdate(options),
       logError: (message, error) => deps.logSubtitleTimingError(message, error),
-      onTimePosUpdate: (time) => deps.onTimePosUpdate?.(time),
+      onTimePosUpdate: (time, updateKind) => {
+        deps.onTimePosUpdate?.(time);
+        if (updateKind === 'playback') return;
+        const liveText = deps.getCurrentLiveSubtitleText?.();
+        if (liveText !== undefined) {
+          handleMpvSubtitleChange({ text: liveText });
+        }
+      },
     });
     const handleMpvPauseChange = createHandleMpvPauseChangeHandler({
       recordPauseState: (paused) => deps.recordPauseState(paused),

src/main/runtime/mpv-main-event-main-deps.ts

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ export function createBuildBindMpvMainEventHandlersMainDepsHandler(deps: {
     overlayRuntimeInitialized: boolean;
     mpvClient: {
       connected?: boolean;
+      currentSubText?: string;
       currentSecondarySubText?: string;
       currentTimePos?: number;
       requestProperty?: (name: string) => Promise<unknown>;
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ export function createBuildBindMpvMainEventHandlersMainDepsHandler(deps: {
         currentTimeSec: Number(deps.appState.mpvClient?.currentTimePos),
         cues: deps.appState.activeParsedSubtitleCues,
       }),
+    getCurrentLiveSubtitleText: () => deps.appState.mpvClient?.currentSubText ?? '',
     recordImmersionSubtitleLine: (text: string, start: number, end: number) => {
       deps.ensureImmersionTrackerInitialized();
       const tracker = deps.appState.immersionTracker;

src/main/runtime/primary-subtitle-text.test.ts

@@ -64,6 +64,30 @@ test('resolvePrimarySubtitleText combines unique simultaneous parsed cues', () =
   );
 });
 
+test('resolvePrimarySubtitleText collapses whitespace variants of one ASS lyric', () => {
+  const ass = [
+    '[Events]',
+    'Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text',
+    'Dialogue: 2,0:00:01.00,0:00:03.00,EDJP,,0,0,0,,少しだけ好きになる',
+    'Dialogue: 1,0:00:01.00,0:00:03.00,EDJP,,0,0,0,,少しだけ\\h好きになる',
+    'Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.00,0:00:03.00,EDJP,,0,0,0,,少しだけ　好きになる',
+  ].join('\n');
+  const cues = parseSubtitleCues(ass, 'polar-opposites-s01e10.ass');
+
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    cues.map((cue) => cue.text),
+    ['少しだけ好きになる', '少しだけ 好きになる', '少しだけ　好きになる'],
+  );
+  assert.equal(
+    resolvePrimarySubtitleText({
+      liveText: ['少しだけ好きになる', '少しだけ 好きになる', '少しだけ　好きになる'].join('\n'),
+      currentTimeSec: 2,
+      cues,
+    }),
+    '少しだけ好きになる',
+  );
+});
+
 test('resolvePrimarySubtitleText tolerates stale time-pos at a parsed cue edge', () => {
   assert.equal(
     resolvePrimarySubtitleText({
@@ -184,6 +208,20 @@ test('resolvePrimarySubtitleText combines simultaneous canonical cues in source
   assert.equal(text, 'first\nsecond');
 });
 
+test('resolvePrimarySubtitleText collapses whitespace variants of a canonical lyric', () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    resolvePrimarySubtitleText({
+      liveText: '少しだけ好きになる\n少しだけ　好きになる',
+      currentTimeSec: 2,
+      cues: [
+        { startTime: 1, endTime: 3, text: '少しだけ好きになる', source: 'canonical-ass' },
+        { startTime: 1, endTime: 3, text: '少しだけ　好きになる', source: 'canonical-ass' },
+      ],
+    }),
+    '少しだけ好きになる',
+  );
+});
+
 test('resolveCanonicalPrimarySubtitle covers a nearby generated animation edge', () => {
   const cue = {
     startTime: 1.2,

src/main/runtime/primary-subtitle-text.ts

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ function nearbyCanonicalCues(
   currentTimeSec: number,
 ): SubtitleCue[] {
   return (cues ?? []).filter((cue) => {
-    if (cue.source !== 'canonical-ass') {
+    if (cue.source !== 'canonical-ass' && cue.source !== 'reconstructed-ass') {
       return false;
     }
     const span = animationSpan(cue);
@@ -40,6 +40,21 @@ function compactWhitespace(text: string): string {
   return text.replace(/\s+/gu, '');
 }
 
+// ASS layers can encode the same visible spacing with ordinary, hard, or
+// ideographic spaces. Matching and emission must use the same identity or each
+// layer reappears as a copy.
+function uniqueCueTexts(cues: readonly SubtitleCue[]): string[] {
+  const texts: string[] = [];
+  const seen = new Set<string>();
+  for (const cue of cues) {
+    const compactText = compactWhitespace(cue.text);
+    if (seen.has(compactText)) continue;
+    seen.add(compactText);
+    texts.push(cue.text);
+  }
+  return texts;
+}
+
 function compactLineSegments(text: string): string[] {
   return text.split('\n').map(compactWhitespace).filter(Boolean);
 }
@@ -83,14 +98,7 @@ function resolveActiveParsedPrimarySubtitle(options: {
     return null;
   }
 
-  const texts: string[] = [];
+  const texts = uniqueCueTexts(selected);
-  const seen = new Set<string>();
-  for (const cue of selected) {
-    if (!seen.has(cue.text)) {
-      seen.add(cue.text);
-      texts.push(cue.text);
-    }
-  }
   return {
     text: texts.join('\n'),
     startTime: Math.min(...selected.map((cue) => cue.startTime)),
@@ -159,14 +167,7 @@ export function resolveCanonicalPrimarySubtitle(options: {
     return null;
   }
 
-  const texts: string[] = [];
+  const texts = uniqueCueTexts(selected);
-  const seen = new Set<string>();
-  for (const cue of selected) {
-    if (!seen.has(cue.text)) {
-      seen.add(cue.text);
-      texts.push(cue.text);
-    }
-  }
   return {
     text: texts.join('\n'),
     startTime: Math.min(...selected.map((cue) => cue.startTime)),

src/main/runtime/secondary-subtitle-track.test.ts

@@ -20,6 +20,156 @@ test('findActiveSubtitleText combines unique simultaneous parsed cues', () => {
   );
 });
 
+test('findActiveSubtitleText collapses whitespace variants of one ASS lyric', () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    findActiveSubtitleText(
+      [
+        { startTime: 1, endTime: 3, text: '少しだけ好きになる' },
+        { startTime: 1, endTime: 3, text: '少しだけ 好きになる' },
+        { startTime: 1, endTime: 3, text: '少しだけ　好きになる' },
+      ],
+      2,
+    ),
+    '少しだけ好きになる',
+  );
+});
+
+test('parsed secondary lyrics keep explicit ASS vertical order when durations alternate', () => {
+  const lyric = (options: { start: string; end: string; style: string; y: number; text: string }) =>
+    `Dialogue: 0,0:00:${options.start},0:00:${options.end},${options.style},,0,0,0,fx,{\\move(100,${options.y},120,${options.y})\\t(0,200,\\fscx110)}${options.text}\\N{\\p1}m 0 0 l 0 5`;
+  const ass = [
+    '[Events]',
+    'Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text',
+    lyric({
+      start: '01.00',
+      end: '02.20',
+      style: 'ed_romaji',
+      y: 66,
+      text: 'ima wo kakusarechau mae ni',
+    }),
+    lyric({
+      start: '01.00',
+      end: '02.00',
+      style: 'ed_english',
+      y: 1020,
+      text: 'Before the present moment gets hidden away.',
+    }),
+    lyric({
+      start: '03.00',
+      end: '04.00',
+      style: 'ed_romaji',
+      y: 66,
+      text: 'ame mitai ni hikatteru',
+    }),
+    lyric({
+      start: '03.00',
+      end: '04.20',
+      style: 'ed_english',
+      y: 1020,
+      text: 'Is shining like rain.',
+    }),
+  ].join('\n');
+  const cues = parseSubtitleCues(ass, 'polar-opposites-s01e08.ass');
+
+  assert.equal(
+    findActiveSubtitleText(cues, 1.5),
+    'ima wo kakusarechau mae ni\nBefore the present moment gets hidden away.',
+  );
+  assert.equal(findActiveSubtitleText(cues, 3.5), 'ame mitai ni hikatteru\nIs shining like rain.');
+});
+
+test('unpositioned secondary lyrics fall back to ASS source order', () => {
+  const ass = [
+    '[Events]',
+    'Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text',
+    'Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.00,0:00:02.20,ED Romaji,,0,0,0,,ima wo kakusarechau mae ni',
+    'Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.00,0:00:02.00,ED English,,0,0,0,,Before the present moment gets hidden away.',
+  ].join('\n');
+
+  assert.equal(
+    findActiveSubtitleText(parseSubtitleCues(ass, 'ending.ass'), 1.5),
+    'ima wo kakusarechau mae ni\nBefore the present moment gets hidden away.',
+  );
+});
+
+test('findActiveSubtitleText keeps a canonical ASS cue for its generated animation span', () => {
+  const poof = {
+    startTime: 1110.67,
+    endTime: 1110.71,
+    text: 'POOF',
+    source: 'canonical-ass' as const,
+    animationStartTime: 1110.67,
+    animationEndTime: 1111.59,
+  };
+
+  assert.equal(findActiveSubtitleText([poof], 1111.58), 'POOF');
+  assert.equal(findActiveSubtitleText([poof], 1111.59), '');
+});
+
+test('ASS fragment karaoke stays separated by style with authored word spacing', () => {
+  const lineEvents = (
+    style: string,
+    fragments: readonly string[],
+    y: number,
+    baseTime = 1,
+  ): string[] => {
+    const events: string[] = [];
+    for (const layer of [0, 1]) {
+      fragments.forEach((fragment, index) => {
+        const x = 100 + index * 40;
+        const start = (baseTime + index * 0.25).toFixed(2).padStart(5, '0');
+        const end = (baseTime + 3 + index * 0.2).toFixed(2).padStart(5, '0');
+        events.push(
+          `Dialogue: ${layer},0:00:${start},0:00:${end},${style},,0,0,0,,{\\pos(${x},${y})\\t(0,200,\\fscx110)}${fragment}\\N{\\p1}m 0 0 l 0 10`,
+        );
+      });
+    }
+    return events;
+  };
+  const ass = [
+    '[Events]',
+    'Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text',
+    ...lineEvents('ed_romaji', ['ji', 'gu', 'za', 'gu ', 'na', 'mi'], 70),
+    ...lineEvents('ed_english', ['Pas', 'si', 'ng ', 'thro', 'u', 'gh '], 110),
+    ...lineEvents('op_english', ['I', 'want', 'to', 'go'], 110, 7),
+  ].join('\n');
+
+  assert.equal(
+    findActiveSubtitleText(parseSubtitleCues(ass, 'ending.ass'), 2.5),
+    'jiguzagu nami\nPassing through',
+  );
+  // Some generated scripts discard spaces and retain only positioned chunks. Joining
+  // without invented separators avoids turning one word into spaced syllables.
+  assert.equal(findActiveSubtitleText(parseSubtitleCues(ass, 'ending.ass'), 8.5), 'Iwanttogo');
+});
+
+test('findActiveSubtitleText keeps a complete reconstructed line over entrance fragments', () => {
+  const current = {
+    startTime: 1,
+    endTime: 4,
+    text: 'Complete current line',
+    source: 'reconstructed-ass' as const,
+    assStyle: 'op_english',
+  };
+  const nextEntrance = {
+    startTime: 3.8,
+    endTime: 4.2,
+    text: 'Ne',
+    source: 'reconstructed-ass' as const,
+    assStyle: 'op_english',
+  };
+  const nextLine = {
+    startTime: 4,
+    endTime: 7,
+    text: 'Next complete line',
+    source: 'reconstructed-ass' as const,
+    assStyle: 'op_english',
+  };
+
+  assert.equal(findActiveSubtitleText([current, nextEntrance], 3.9), current.text);
+  assert.equal(findActiveSubtitleText([current, nextEntrance, nextLine], 4.1), nextLine.text);
+});
+
 test('secondary track controller parses the selected ASS file before publishing', async () => {
   const broadcasts: string[] = [];
   let currentText = '';

src/main/runtime/secondary-subtitle-track.ts

@@ -58,16 +58,102 @@ function buildSelectedTrackIdentity(
   ]);
 }
 
+type IndexedSubtitleCue = { cue: SubtitleCue; index: number };
+
+function compareAuthoredSubtitleOrder(left: IndexedSubtitleCue, right: IndexedSubtitleCue): number {
+  const leftLayout = left.cue.assLayout;
+  const rightLayout = right.cue.assLayout;
+  if (leftLayout?.kind === 'positioned' && rightLayout?.kind === 'positioned') {
+    const verticalOrder = leftLayout.y - rightLayout.y;
+    if (verticalOrder !== 0) return verticalOrder;
+  }
+  if (leftLayout && rightLayout) {
+    const sourceOrder = leftLayout.sourceOrder - rightLayout.sourceOrder;
+    if (sourceOrder !== 0) return sourceOrder;
+  }
+  return left.index - right.index;
+}
+
 export function findActiveSubtitleText(cues: readonly SubtitleCue[], timeSeconds: number): string {
   if (!Number.isFinite(timeSeconds)) return '';
 
+  const authoredCanonical = cues.filter(
+    (cue) =>
+      cue.source === 'canonical-ass' && cue.startTime <= timeSeconds && cue.endTime > timeSeconds,
+  );
+  const selectedCanonical = new Set<SubtitleCue>(authoredCanonical);
+  if (selectedCanonical.size === 0) {
+    const animatedCanonical = cues.filter(
+      (cue) =>
+        cue.source === 'canonical-ass' &&
+        (cue.animationStartTime ?? cue.startTime) <= timeSeconds &&
+        (cue.animationEndTime ?? cue.endTime) > timeSeconds,
+    );
+    const nearestDistance = animatedCanonical.reduce((nearest, cue) => {
+      const distance =
+        timeSeconds < cue.startTime
+          ? cue.startTime - timeSeconds
+          : Math.max(0, timeSeconds - cue.endTime);
+      return Math.min(nearest, distance);
+    }, Infinity);
+    for (const cue of animatedCanonical) {
+      const distance =
+        timeSeconds < cue.startTime
+          ? cue.startTime - timeSeconds
+          : Math.max(0, timeSeconds - cue.endTime);
+      if (distance === nearestDistance) {
+        selectedCanonical.add(cue);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  const activeReconstructed = cues.filter(
+    (cue) =>
+      cue.source === 'reconstructed-ass' &&
+      cue.startTime <= timeSeconds &&
+      cue.endTime > timeSeconds,
+  );
+  const reconstructedByStyle = new Map<string, SubtitleCue>();
+  for (const cue of activeReconstructed) {
+    const style = cue.assStyle ?? '';
+    const existing = reconstructedByStyle.get(style);
+    if (!existing) {
+      reconstructedByStyle.set(style, cue);
+      continue;
+    }
+    const duration = cue.endTime - cue.startTime;
+    const existingDuration = existing.endTime - existing.startTime;
+    if (
+      duration > existingDuration ||
+      (duration === existingDuration && cue.text.length > existing.text.length) ||
+      (duration === existingDuration &&
+        cue.text.length === existing.text.length &&
+        cue.startTime > existing.startTime)
+    ) {
+      reconstructedByStyle.set(style, cue);
+    }
+  }
+  const selectedReconstructed = new Set(reconstructedByStyle.values());
+
   const seen = new Set<string>();
   const activeText: string[] = [];
-  for (const cue of cues) {
+  const activeCues: IndexedSubtitleCue[] = [];
-    if (cue.startTime > timeSeconds || cue.endTime <= timeSeconds) continue;
+  cues.forEach((cue, index) => {
+    const active =
+      cue.source === 'canonical-ass'
+        ? selectedCanonical.has(cue)
+        : cue.source === 'reconstructed-ass'
+          ? selectedReconstructed.has(cue)
+          : cue.startTime <= timeSeconds && cue.endTime > timeSeconds;
+    if (active) activeCues.push({ cue, index });
+  });
+  activeCues.sort(compareAuthoredSubtitleOrder);
+
+  for (const { cue } of activeCues) {
     const text = cue.text.trim();
-    if (!text || seen.has(text)) continue;
+    const compactText = text.replace(/\s+/gu, '');
-    seen.add(text);
+    if (!compactText || seen.has(compactText)) continue;
+    seen.add(compactText);
     activeText.push(text);
   }
   return activeText.join('\n');