lost in writing castle

= the action that marks an antagonist as irredeemably evil; once past this point, redemption is no longer an option for the character and any explanation they may have had for villainy no longer excuses it

not all villains have such a moment, but once they do they are considered "pure evil"

moment must be played seriously and does not include humor to soften the blow

onward, all ambiguity surrounding the character's moral standing is resolved and can not be seriously questioned again by all in-the-know of the event

any attempt at redemption is not enough, fails, is interrupted, and/or ends in the death of the villain

depending on genre-typical expectations of violence/morals, the action can have very different degrees of evil

typical examples: killing a fan-favorite character, animal abuse, sexual assault, bigotry, betrayal, infidelity, domestic abuse, hurting the innocent and vulnerable

Examples from popular media:

Ego giving Starlord's mother the tumor that killed her (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

President Coin dropping bombs on the evacuating children and killing Prim (Hunger Games)

an enchanting song that literally takes over the mind and makes the sailor ignore all danger to approach

creating the illusion of a safe harbor, maybe a familiar one, the harbor of their destination, or whatever place it is the sailor wishes be at

creating the illusion that the ocean is unsafe, like imagining storm clouds, heavy waves and winds that are not really there, to make sailors desperate to seek safety on land

distracting sailors from where they are going, making them not even realise when they drift too close to shore

affecting the ship rather than the sailor, taking control of it and steering it towards them. rather than a battle for the mind, it is a battle for control over the boat

Aerokinesis / Air Manipulation

Anemokinesis / Wind Manipulation

Animal Manipulation

Chlorokinesis / Plant Manipulation

Crystal Manipulation

Cyrokinesis / Ice Manipulation

Electrokinesis / Electricity Manipulation

Elemental Manipulation

Exokinesis / Nature Manipulation

Forest Control

Geokinesis / Earth Manipulation

Hydrokinesis / Water Manipulation

Metal Manipulation

Meteorokinesis / Weather Manipulation

Ocean Control

Periodic Element Manipulation

Photokinesis / Light Manipulation

Pyrokinesis / Fire Manipulation

Shapeshifting into Animals

Umbrakinesis / Darkness Manipulation

Volcanic Control

cat/feline(ish) names

Ariel – lion of god  (hebrew,  ⚥)

Calica – calico cat  (english,  ♀)

Fahad – leopard  (arabic,  ♂)

Felina – cat-like  (latin,  ♀)

Freyja/Freya – norse goddess whose chariot is pulled by cats  (norse,  ♀)

Hamza – strong lion  (arabic,  ♂)

Kasha – a monster from japanese folklore often taking cat-form  (japanese,  ♀)

Kisa – kitten/pussycat  (russian,  ♀)

Kit/Kitty – kitten  (british,  ⚥)

Leo – lion  (latin,  ♂)

Lowe – lion  (german,  ♂)

Lux – lynx  (german,  ⚥)

Lyon – lion  (french,  ♂)

Nala – (popular lion character, ♀)

Neko – cat  (japanese,  ⚥)

Namir – panther  (arabic,  ♂)

Numair – little panther  (arabic,  ♂)

Onza – legendary cat of mexican folklore  (spanish,  ♀)

Palug – scratching cat; associated with arthurian legend  (welsh,  ⚥)

Pishi – kitten, little cat  (persian,  ⚥)

Puma – mountain lion  (american,  ♀)

Simba – (popular lion character, ♂)

Tabby – tabby cat  (english/french,  ⚥)

Tiger – tiger  (british,  ♂)

Butcher — really, really likes to eat meat

Cap — forgot to turn caps lock off for an official report

Cinder — spilled paint and had to scrub the floor on hands and knees

Ditch — known for 'going missing' with lovely company on a night out

Dusty — has a dust allergy

Flex — had a cramp while trying to show off muscles for their crush

Gigs — giggles when nervous and has repeatedly done so in very inappropriate moments

Hook — lost a piercing and to stop the hole from closing up, used a fishing hook and forgot about it, going about their day normally until it was pointed out

Jester — the most serious person you will ever meet to the point of being incredibly entertaining

Kilo — their real name is Miles

Ripper — ripped their pants walking up the stairs for an important presentation

Smasher — had face smashed into their birthday cake

Torch — got their hair accidentally caught on fire

Waldo — has a tendency to wander off and get lost

Widow — got spooked by a spider and killed it during a hookup

Across humanity there are some things most known cultures have celebrations for and can be used well as an easy way to expand on the lore of your world without info dumping. here are some of them:

Independence / Unity / National / Freedom Day: the day used to commemorate when a nation, kingdom, or faction came together as one. This may be the day a treaty was signed, the day the former regime was overthrown, the day a new ruler was sworn in...

Ruler's Birthday: if there is a single or a few rulers, their birthdays might be celebrated with large festivities

End & Beginning of a year: regardless which calendar is used, most societies had some way to measure the length of one cycle (lunar cycle, every ___ amount of days, the beginning of a particular season, maybe something more abstract like the first day the flowers bloom or the day of the first snowfall...) and celebrate accordingly

Celebrating a Season: celebrating summer with festivities outside, spring with a flower market, autumn with a harvest festival, winter with a bonfire...

Day of Mourning/Remembrance: either in general or a day for remembering the dead from a certain event, tragedy, war...

Religious Festivals: depending on your type of belief system there could be many celebrations or only one or two

Historic Memorial Days: the day a war ended, the day of a massacre, the day of a revolution, the day of any grand and influential type of event that is remembered years later

adolescents often pierce their dorsal fins

depending on the species, some can never stop swimming because they need to move to be able to breathe

in the underwater community, they often have responsibilities of a doctor, since no one is better at detecting the injured

incredibly curious with a tendency to get in trouble for it

adolescents often pierce their dorsal fins

several rows of sharp teeth, which they lose regularly and often keep for jewellery, gifts, or a simple keepsake

shark half is covered with rough skin rather than scales

usually rather solitary but often live near communities of other merfolk and are on good terms with them

Bumper — got hit by a car

Caesar — wanted to know from across the room whether they should bring a friend a drink and did the thumb up and down gesture to ask

Cub — a joke was made that they are "a bear in the making" and the joke stuck

Diesel — put diesel in a petrol car during a road trip because they were distracted

Doc — stuck a tiny band aid on a large cut

Echo — always zones out and needs other people to repeat themselves, sometimes more than once

Fang — bit their own tongue in the middle of an angry rant

Gator — tried to hide in the water and was spotted lurking in the shallows, waiting

Helium — has a really deep voice

Jaws — screamed when they got nibbled on by a fish

Kant — had a single philosophy book in their room

Lego — had that one lego haircut in a single childhood photo and no one lets them live it down

Medusa — accidentally blinded everyone for a minute with a really bright flashlight

Razor — was complimented by a date on the incredibly clean shave… in reality just can't grow a beard

Spark — got electrocuted trying to fix a lamp

While some species may not be as prone to mixing with others, giants are the only truly reclusive species. Not by choice… not really. It's just that they don't fit, quite literally. They can't fit in most castles, towns, cities.

There have been attempts. Kings have extended hands, trying to get the powerful and mysterious giants as allies by inviting them and trying to make it work. But none have ever been able to truly accommodate the stay of a delegation of giants. They would have to build an entire new society, appropriately sized for the giants. And when faced with that challenge... most respectfully bowed out or failed spectacularly.

Unique Career AUs

Cast at Adventure Parks (disney, mermaid in aquariums, …)

Clinical Trial Volunteer

Employee at a pizza place used as a front for money laundering

Ethical Hacker

Hostage Negotiator

IRL Actor/Actress (hired to cry at the funeral of random people, stand in at a wedding party, pretend to be a date, get interviewed on the news pretending like they were present at an event, …)

Ice Sculptor for fancy events

Investigative Journalist

Matchmaker

Paranormal Medium

Poison Specialist (claims to focus on antidotes, but is that true?)

Professional Cuddler

Running a wildlife sanctuary in a fantasy/scifi setting

Testing security/TSA by deliberately trying to smuggle forbidden items past them

Similarly, testing security systems by trying to pull off a heist with permission of the company

A legal advisor in a setting where the world has ended, but bureaucracy survived