: Re: Is it okay to say what the character infers about other characters thoughts as fact in third person limited? The story is third person limited to Bob's point of view. He is with Alice, and

@Odierno164

This will be a matter of opinion. My opinion is no, it is not okay. I write in 3PL myself, exclusively, and everything I write is as if the MC is seeing it.
You are doing nothing but saving space, and saving space is not important. I would probably write that scene as:

Alice sat up proudly, then shrunk back down.
She just realized where she was, Bob thought.

But, since Bob is the only one that can think [whose thoughts are ever shown], and this is indicated by italics, the following would suffice:

Alice sat up proudly, then shrunk back down.
She just realized where she was.

Then, because things should be filtered through Bob's mind, I'd add some take on it; Bob should feel something about what he has seen. Not just report it. Perhaps he's sympathetic.

Alice sat up proudly, then shrunk back down.
She just realized where she was. Too bad, anywhere else and she's got a right to be proud.

My narrator is not the MC, and the narrator can describe visual things in ways Bob would not. For example, "sitting up proudly". I can't be certain Alice is "proud", but I can be just as certain, visually, as saying Alice is Angry, afraid, grieving, etc. So I don't mind the attribution of "proudly".
I also don't mind if the 3P narrator gets poetic or imaginative in their descriptions of a setting, in ways the MC would not.
But as far as knowing what is in any character's mind: that is what the "LIMITED" means. Find a way for Bob to interpret what is in Alice's mind. And make it clear, don't make us infer what Bob inferred.

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