So I gave Yuma an AK 47

Makoto has a revolver so it's only fair to give Yuma a weapon as well right?

sorry if this is a bad time to request and feel free to put this off till whenever or even delete it if you're sick of airheaded stronk s/o asks

I was wondering, could you do short headcanons about how hiei and/or kurama with a stronk/airhead s/o would react to someone random or even a minor antagonist actively being rude their s/o while they're in earshot

[for a more specfic example maybe that eyeball at the gate of betrayal calls their attempted sacrifice foolish or the pretty boy purple guy from the dark tournment says smth like "it's a shame such a pretty face is wasted on such a brainless oaf" which has the added bonus(?) of sounding underhandedly flirtatious.]

again no pressure to write this quickly or at all. i just figured i'd throw it in your ask box incase it interested you at all.

Also entirley seperate question but would you be willing to cover roroanora zoro in your stronk/airhead s/o series?

BONUS AIRHEADED S/O DRABBLES: How they react to someone insulting their S/O

An: Of course I don't mind! Never be afraid to request things, it just might take me a little bit to get to them but really I enjoy doing them!

--------------------

Kurama:

More than likely it would be a comment from Yomi or Kaito that would make him lose his cool. For this instance though, we'll go with the latter.

🦊🦊🦊🦊

It was a little after Botan got her soul stolen that Kaito decided to run his mouth. You having been kidnapped with Yusuke because where one went, the other followed. Much to Kurama's dismay.

"You've got me curious, playing house with a human I'd figure would be so far below you. Do you find them amusing? Maybe think of them as some sort of plaything? A way to keep yourself entertained?"

The taunt was an attempt to make the fox demon slip up. And it seemed to be working judging by his glare and increase in spirit energy.

"Did I strike a nerve? Don't tell me the great Yoko Kurama is actually infatuated with a human. And not a very bright one at that." There was a smirk on his face that only grew seeing Kurama manipulate the plants around him. Knowing he couldn't physically hurt him at the moment.

"You should have seen them. Getting all worked up over Urameshi being immobilized, only to fall for the exact same trap. It was almost too easy. Even when being told moving was useless, they still struggled. Yelling out curses and promises to...what was it? Oh yes, 'kick out asses' I believe. I never would have pegged you as the type to go after a stupid brute."

His cackling was soon disrupted by the sound of Kurama's voice. Speaking up at last with a tone so cruel, it temporarily frightened Kaito.

"You should hope I don't find a loophole around your no violence rule. Because if I do, you'll regret every last word." Eyes glowing an eerie golden.

When he finally bested the snarky human, he half thought to just crush his soul. No only because he put his friends in harm's way, but he also insulted you.

Insulted his relationship with you.

Buuuut, Kurama wasn't exactly allowed to end a human's life. And he refused to stoop that low anyways.

No, he'd just leave Kaito the way he was and focus instead on getting you and Yusuke back safely.

Overall he's petty about it, but not angry enough to lash out. He'll let it go for now....But if it happens again all bets are off.

----------------------

Hiei:

For Hiei it is most definitely Shishi that gets to him. I feel like maze castle is a little too early for him to get mad at someone making fun of you. Maybe a comment of 'A foolish sacrifice and yet you're the one who's dead'. But if it's during the dark tournament on the other hand 👀👀👀

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

Kuwabara had just gotten teleported to who knows where. Leaving you, Hiei, and Kurama left to fight. It was just your luck that the die landed on your name. The other once again on Shishi's.

"Oh great, another bumbling idiot. At least this one is easier on the eyes." The demon commented as you made your way onto the arena.

Already Hiei could feel his blood start to boil. Disliking the way Shishi seemed to look you up and down.

"Perhaps defeating you will boost my popularity. Just don't die so quickly. I want to be able to entertain my fans."

You were already getting tired of this guy yapping. And it didn't help that he made your best friend vanish into thin air.

"I wouldn't be so sure about you beating me."

But at your comment, he only grew angry and snapped.

"Are you delusional or just that stupid? You think I would let a mere human beat me? Especially one as klutzy as you."

You were not a fighter to be underestimated. Hiei knew that firsthand. Yet you continued to let that cretin berate you as you fought.

For some reason that made him furious. Wanting to both put him in his place and let you teach that bastard a lesson. He took a step forward. Already deciding that if you did indeed lose this fight, he'd be the one to beat that egotistical demon.

A firm grip on his wrist stopped him from taking another step forward.

"Refrain from doing anything foolish. I know you care for them, but you'd only be damaging their pride more by stepping in." Kurama scolded.

The words temporarily snapping Hiei out of his protective thoughts.

"Tch, I don't care for them."

Hiei is absolutely ready to throw hands on your behalf. Yes you're foolish, but you're his foolish human. The only one allowed to insult you is him.

------------------

MASTERLIST

I know what it looks like but it's not what you think. I'm just trying to harass your top scientist into revealing company secrets. It's cool.

This would be the funniest possible time for Huesca to die. We've done Locked Room Quartet. We've done Open Air Locked Room. Are you ready for the Most Locked-est Room Ever Locked!?

The same underlings who tried to solve the last four murders? Sure, those guys are credible.

What is Yomi implying here? That Makoto came down here and knocked out two guards, then left in a car to go pick me up, and then came back down to capitalize on the chaos created by a fake letter he'd sent to Yomi earlier?

Because that... is alarmingly plausible and answers my question as to why that letter would even exist.

Looks like we pushed too hard. Makoto's being placed under arrest.

...so. Like. Am I cool to hang out, Yomi? You're just taking him, right? It's fine for me to still be here?

YUMA NO

YOU FOOL

We almost got away with it. Yomi was so laser-focused that he was legit going to take Makoto and leave us here. Your masterful disguise of freezing up and being so useless that you become mistakable for a floor lamp was working until you spoke up!

Floor lamp. Like I said. Pay us no mind and have a wonderful day. Oh, what is that noise in the distance? Is that the sound of some malcontents? Someone must go step on their necks, and that someone is you, Yomi. You got this, man. I believe in you.

Aww, that hurts my feelings. You were ready to get Halara'd trying to kill us all over me, like, yesterday. :( Am I really that forgettable?

I hope so too. It'd take out this entire building. We've got Yomi and Makoto here at the same time, plus Huesca. That'd solve a lot of problems for Kanai Ward right there.

Alright, we've time-skipped. Now someone is surely dead.

Aren't you a little short for a Stormtroo--Desuhiko. Halara must have delivered my IOU message.

To be fair, I'd be doing shit like this to him if he was the one over a barrel like this. Though I'd be going for more goofy prankster shit. Desuhiko is weirdly obsessed with shilling the Yuma/Kurumi ship at every possible opportunity.

HOLY SHIT, IS THAT YOU, YAKOU!?

Fuck, I thought it'd be Fubuki or Halara. Someone useful. Instead, we get these two clowns. But I suppose it will have to do. Thanks for rescuing me, try not to die on the way out.

DON'T UN-DISGUISE. Y'all have helmets. Just take those off. You don't need to strip down and make yourselves fully vulnerable to being caught, you fucking morons!

He didn't, actually. If he used DIsguise, he would have taken on an appropriate height for a Peacekeeper grunt. This was a disguise, but it wasn't Disguise. Which was honestly for the best.

Given how much Disguise takes out of Desuhiko, a non-Disguise disguise was the right call. With face and body fully covered, there was no need to burn energy on the full shapeshifting shenanigans route.

While true, your behavior in the past has done little to establish a relationship of trust and open communication.

It's like parenting. When you constantly tell Yuma, "DO NOT go snoop around, DO NOT get in trouble with the Peacekeepers, AVOID solving mysteries or doing anything meaningful," and then get mad at him every time he does those things? It's not going to discourage him from doing them. It's going to discourage him from telling you that he's doing them.

If you convey to your child/apprentice that they cannot confide in you about the things they are doing, then they will continue to do those things but they will not confide in you about them. Yuma went behind your back because everything you've said to him up to this point has convinced him that you must be lied to.

My IOU letter!

No, for real, what is that actually? Did Fink the Slaughter Artist tell them I was here?

...that's not a yes.

But it's also not a no. This sent a chill down my spine.

Nuh nuh nuh go back. Don't just yadda-yadda over your arrival here. You have to pass through a biometric scanner to enter the premises. How did you pass through the biometric scanner?

I guess Desuhiko could have Disguised a member of Amaterasu staff to get them through. That shit is practically shapeshifting so it might alter his biometrics. That or they smuggled their way in on, like, a troop transport? Maybe?

That is a fair assessment of what happened, yes. Yuma's floor lamp impersonation needs work.

Yomi had a plausible explanation for that, but obviously Makoto himself couldn't have dropped the letter at the sub. The timing of which still makes me think he did it specifically to get them to come fetch Yuma.

Makoto and Fink aren't proven to be in cahoots but they're likely to be in cahoots. Cahoots are more plausible than not at this point in time.

Hold up, your plan is to kidnap Amaterasu's most highly-protect employee from the middle of their HQ and then walk out?

Yakou, 95% of the time I want you to grow a spine. Then, in the other 5%, you are the boldest motherfucker I've ever met. I love it. I'm here for it. It's too bad Huesca's most certainly dead by now.

HOORAH! LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO

Into the poison gas chamber and DIIIIIIIIE!

...plan needs work, but we can workshop it. Gonna stay positive!

The hell is that supposed to mean, Desuhiko? I'll have you know that I have only Disguised as a woman one....

...four....

...five times. Out of five.

Okay, yeah. That's fair. Gimme the female suit and the polyurethane molded breast forms you set aside as mine.

You heard it here, folks. Yuma doesn't have a preference between male or female. Canon he/they.

Purple question-mark hair and pronouns.

You don't need your bag. These were disguises instead of Disguise. You should still have two of the disguises on you, Desuhiko. Would it be that hard to locate a third?

...we're going on this detour so you can make Yuma a female Peacekeeper, aren't we?

Master Detective Archives: RainCode; THE FINALE

SPOILERS AHOY! IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THIS GAME PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Alright, with the obligatory warning out of the way, LETS CRACK INTO THIS. First of all, I was definitely not ready for the twists this game was boutta knock me upside the head with, like, at all. Starting with the simple fact of how they turned something the fandom MILKED for all it's worth in jokes into a key plot point was just... well fucking played. Also known as the pink blood. Trying to wrap my head around 'Homunculi' was a trip and a half. Once I DID have my head wrapped around the concept though, things made way more sense . Makoto being a Homunculi I saw coming after the investiagtion in the labratory in the restricted area. Specifically that he was the first successful one that disappeared. I was confused, but not that confused. What did get me good was Yuma Kokohead...not...being...Yuma Kokohead...but rather number one. Oh dear. Cause I had originally suspected that the number one we saw on the screen in the office was the big bad or smth, I just knew there was something kinda off about him. I was barking up the wrong tree clearly. When I got to the part where the game finally revealed that homunculi have pink blood I had a realization and was very happy that this information was the confirmation I needed to know, MY CHILDREN WEREN'T DEAD. (Aka the other detectives for those who may not have seen my previous blab.) Then there was Makoto...hoo boy. Don't get me wrong, I like Makoto as a character, but I was a MIXED ass bag of emotions with him. Between first cussing him out wondering where the hell the others were, then changing to applauding him for his cleverness in using us to get rid of Yomi, then finally to; "Oh shit, I don't actually want to kill you anymore... uhhh-" Then the emergency exit coming out and Shinigami finally telling us what the price is for using it and... Oh dear I nearly started crying (and usually when it comes to emotional moments in fiction I am a stone wall.) We've been through so much shit with Shinigami, it HURT to have to go our separate ways from her, it just hurt! Finally I just wanted to touch on that EPILOUGE. I was SO happy to see all the other detectives (Sans Yakou, RIP.) at the office and getting ready to head out. Nearly had a panic when I couldn't locate Vivia, only for him to be hiding in a suitcase hoping someone would carry him. Kurumi going out to search for Number one and travel is kinda cute, I was also EXTREMELY relieved that the ramen shop owner was able to develop a ramen with all of the nutrients Homunculi need so they didn't have to eat the meatbuns anymore. Thank goodness TvT. ALRIGHTY. I DID mention I would list my favourite characters so HERE WE GO. (Keep in mind this is just MY opinion. I'll just do a top 5 list for the sake of length) 1. Vivia Twilight (Yakou WAS my favourite character at first, but then I got to know Vivia's character a bit better I couldn't help but love his lazy ass. Not to mention I found his forte SO cool!) 2. Yakou (I Miss My Wife Tails) Furio. (Ah yes, my favourite Hobo detective as I like to call him. I call him that because when he wears that big coat he kinda looks like a Hobo. Anyways, watching him try to be the voice of reason for the other detectives is just too entertaining to not like him.) 3. Fubuki Clockford. (She's so sweet, yet so forgetful. Tbh I find it cute. She's another one of the detectives whose forte I find really interesting. I will admit though, my first impression of her was; "Dumb, dumb as hell." but she's so cute. I just love her.) 4. Halara Nightmare (They're SO badass! Watching them kick around the Peacekeepers like it's nothing is always a good time! Also, we appreciate an Animal lover here, yes we DO! I love Halara's forte and using it during the Nail Man investigations was quite interesting. 5. Shinigami (Our adorable, lenient, troublesome, and mean companion! God I don't know how anyone can't like her? She's so amusing and has literally NO filter! Only reason she's lower on the list is because MY emotional attachment was more towards the other detectives.)

Whew! Okay I think I've rambled on this long enough, so this shall be the end of this ramble! Have a good day/night everyone!

I wasn't sure if I could mention this here since you primarily focus on the NDO (and Makoto), but like...Seth Burroughs also looks like he'd be sick a lot. Like he's so pale that he looks grey, and I swear a stiff breeze could knock him over. Like something about him just makes my "oh no I need to take care of him" instincts flare up.

Hey its okay, I gotchu anon!

Its true I mostly focus on the NDA and Makoto since they’re my favorites (truth be told I don’t care for any of the peacekeepers whatsoever) but you can still send your sicknarios!

Yes agreed. Poor Seth is so pale he may as well be dead tbh. I’d never seen a more frail unhealthy looking man in my life. (other than maybe vivia x’D) I remember his profile even says so.

So if he were to get a cold, high fever or any sort of sickness, he’d be taken down literally instantly. Man doesn’t even have the willpower or energy to try to fight the illness. He’d just be on the floor like “let me die” (inb4 vivia’s watching him as a ghost saying “same man same”) hell, he would probably be mistaken for a hospital patient and taken to the ER.

Also the fact his voice is hardly audible…it’d just be GONE here. His throat would be so flared ip that any time he speaks, nothing would come out. Only PAIN. Nothing but deep raspy noises. He’d have to communicate with a notebook or something.

Seth is actually the only Peacekeeper I legitimately felt sorry for. So I hope he can find himself a nice caretaker in these icky times 🌡️🤧

Thank you sm for your ask!

Here’s some quick lil’ edits. I do know Seth and Yomi are fan favorites when it comes to the Peacekeepers 😉

can i request mystery phantom yomi the design literally goes so hard hes got the colors of monokuma and everything

I think ya might've accidentally got the wrong guy for art requests, cause it ain't me (I ain't no fortunate son). I'm not the art guy, I'm the 'ramble till I drop dead' guy. However, since ya asked, I might as well attempt to supply.

Woe, tiny fallen angel be upon ye

In the Misfit AU Yuma does change the bandages every now and then right

So how does he do it in secret(if he does)and for how long?

Yes, he does. A bit of trigger warning here, but let’s just say Yuma’s scars got reopened after a ‘conversation’ with Yomi prior to the main story. So he has to put medical gel so they can heal in the next few months, and then wrap them up in bandages before covering the hands and arms in long gloves.

As for if he keeps it a secret, I’d say yes because he doesn’t like to talk about his time as an experiment and all the testings he had to endure. If the NDA finds out about the scars, they’re gonna start asking questions because they’re detectives who would be absolutely curious how he gotten them, and he just wants to leave that dark part of his past behind. Plus, the last time he told someone about the testings, they ended up dead and he doesn’t want the same to happen to them (because they would absolutely try to expose those scientists—but restrain themselves because it’s freaking Amaterasu).

Unfortunately, it gets harder to hide them as Yuma learns about the extent of his Forte (sharing other Fortes), the Peacekeepers (especially Yomi) encountering him, and especially when he moves in with Yakou, making it harder for him to both hide the gels & bandages, and apply them when needed.

Are there multiple underworlds based on different cultures? You've mentioned Old Hell, Anwnn(?), Yomi no Kuni, and Xibalba before.. I think that's rlly cool how you're drawing from real-world cultures and how they each interpreted the dead ;0;;

Yes I am!! :D the setting before used to be a very big general open world RP I did with friends for over a decade. I wanted to keep elements form that present in the current setting. Vassa actually does visit the various Underworlds in the story!

I’ve been wanting to spend more time researching them all together just because I imagine they’re all their own regions. :3 they each have their own ruler as well! I did actually draw Kisin, who is the Mayan God of Death for Xibalba because I wanted to draw from my Guatemalan heritage for it.

Dead's origin in a nutshell:

Yomi: Man, I love life and I love my fiancé.

Ram: - looking down from the heavens and pulling out a gun - So you've chosen death.

Yomi: - is killed -

Sometime later. . .

Yomi: Hey, I think its unfair that I've died. Can I get a do over?

Ram: Suuuuuuure. Yeah, no, definitely. All you gotta do is pledge your allegiance to the gods, gather a million souls and we'll send you off.

Yomi: Sounds ea-

Ram: Your name is now Dead Master btw. Everyone's gonna call you that now. You know gods will.

Dead: . . . Oh. Kinda weird but its not permanent, right?

Ram: . . . So anyways-

More time later. . .

Dead: Hey, I gathered 10,000 souls and I'm tired. Does it have to be 1 mil?

Ram: Yes. But it sounds like you need some super food.

Dead: . . .

Ram: - pulls out a mysterious jar - Eat this. Don't question it. I've never told you a lie ever lol.

Dead: - eats -

Ram: You keep eating this super food and all your dreams will come true.

Even more time later. . .

Gods: Aight, you did super great. We will send-

Ram: HOLD UP. WAIT A MINUTE. I got the huge bombshell to drop. Dead's been eating souls of the passed!

Gods: What?

Dead: . . . What?

Ram: Yeah, Dead definitely did it with no hesitation. Thats a huge no-no here. I mean, look at all these empty jars!

Gods: Well, shit. Dead, you're a forever reaper now because you were greedy.

Dead: SHE SET ME UP!

Ram: - le shrug - I did no such thing. I never once lied.

Dead: FUUUUUUU-

And now Dead is angry.

moon knight fic idea that I had brewing in my head for 2 months but I can't push myself to write right now bc I'm having writer's block ofc

Might write them down as headcanons/bullet points to have them down before making this idea more concrete

fem!oc used for this fic idea btw! (can be read as a reader insert as well if you so choose as, but written this idea with an oc in mind), also lots of Japanese and other Asian mythology that I find would fit the story in mind, also I'm Asian so why tf not let me project a bit ok???

fic idea:

Imagine oc being able to see ghost and spirits (more specifically yokai and anything close to the sort) since childhood. Terrifying really.

Demon paralysis be damned when you open your eyes to see a literal shadow figure staring down at you. Panic attack ensue.

Oh yeah, did she mention the voice in her head guiding her on what to do with these spirits and how to handle them, yeah that's a thing too...

Apparently they're the goddess Izanami, overseer of the underworld Yomi. Fantastic.

She also mentions how more spirits are running amok and unchecked bc APPARENTLY THANOS' SNAP HAD FUCKED THE BALANCE OF LIFE AND DEATH. So I guess those that disappeared weren't actually dead but literally just ceased to exist and it threw Yomi is a disarray of chaos.

Basically the goddess was pissed. So now oc is their unwilling paranormal detective, being forced to faces these horrendous spirits so they can pass on. Fucking fantastic.

Also the Blip actually made it worse too. Great.

Apparently there's some consequences of being forced to help these spirits

They're not limited to out of body experience while taking the train home, usually with oc being in the place of the memory of the spirits that were either before or lead to their deaths. Awesome. More nightmare fuel for her ig.

While this happens to her mentally, physically her body will either be unconscious, spaced out, or even moving on its own unconsciously.

When she sleeps they become vivid nightmares she can't remember usually, only the terror she felt. Sometimes she'll find bruises and scratches on her and remember only bits of what happened. Night terrors. Check. Bodily harm. Check.

Works in the museum both Dane and Sersi works at too bc I can and pls Jeremy add some Dane/Steven/Marc interactions for season 2 pls I'm on my knees

Dane was said to make an appearance in Moon Knight originally but they didnt know how to add him so Dane is now in this fic bc idk what to do with this info now.

Dane and her are friends and friends only. He helped her get a job bc she's out of one bc she was Snapped.

Oh right she was snapped, forgot to mention that lol.

Yes she knows Sersi is an alien wizard. No she doesn't want to turn into a giraffe Dane.

If Dane is doing his Black Knight activities, 9 times out of 10 she doesn't know. She thinks he's distance himself bc of what happened to Sersi, and decided not to push.

Takes place a bit before the start of the series. She's Steven's neighbor but they dont talk much, only wave and greet each other on the lift and when they head to the same bus stop before she left to step onto the subway.

Goodness does Steven thinks she's adorable. A little better at social cues than he is but still as awkward. She a goober really.

She thinks he's cute too. Like a puppy.

Somehow they go on a date (personal headcanon that it was Jake that set Steven with a date bc he has the most social out all of them, which will make things real awkward for them when everyone finds out yikes). Well they try too. You know what happens on Steven's end but surpise suprise. She actually arrived late to the restaurant bc she had another out of body experience bc of some spirits she had encountered (thankfully it was in her home) by the time she arrived Steven wasn't there. It was hours later, she assumed that he thought she stood him up and left.

She ate the steak anyways. She was hungry.

She didn't dare to call or text him, afraid of what he'll say, so color her surprise when he called her instead.

What??? They have a date??? But it's Sunday. Confused, she decide to tell him that she thought he thought she stood him up. Both are confused. They decided to reschedule the date then, both hoping that this one goes well (tbh both were ecstatic that the other was giving them another chance).

Ofc that doesn't happen bc Harrow and his cult with Ammit ensue hijinks.

So Marc and her are complicated bc they used to be friends as kids but then her family moved to NY. They kept contract and talk but it became very minimal. Like simple how are you type shit. So they have no idea what the other looks like over the years.

So Marc is in for a big twist when he finds out Steven's date is her. It doesn't help he had a tiny itsy bit of a crush on her as kids.

But he doesn't have feelings for her he loves Layla still, right? It's probs bc of the fond memories he held of her as a child that makes him soft for her. No not bc she's kinda of a cute goof.

They're grump and sunshine embodied really.

Also embodies slow burn and friends to lovers trope real hard. Marc's gotta to learn to move on and live a happy life. It's hard but he'll get there.

He is emotionally constipated and will deny any possible thought of him having feelings for oc or any form of happiness.

Oc does not approve and annoys him with affection.

What the fuck was that????

A hug.

Disgusting. Do it again....

Nicknames. Nicknames! NICKNAMES!

Sunshine - Marc, Twinkle Toes - oc

Hc that Marc was kinda clumsy as a child and oc called him that to tease him (was more reinforced after they watched atla).

Steven call her his little sunflower.

Jake calls her his bébé usually.

And Layla.

They're divorced. They'll try to work it out but really Layla realizes that she fell out of love for a while now. The lies and guilt put a strain on their marriage.

That doesn't mean she doesn't care for Marc. She does. As friends.

She won't admit it but deep down, she thinks Marc was conflicted about his feelings whether he knew it or not (whether it was his guilt about her father or not, no one truly knowz). So seeing how he gets along with oc is good for him.

Layla slowly pushed him towards her bc she wants Marc to be happy as well and move on.

Layla is a good friend and wants everyone's best interests.

Now onto Jake.

Keeping in mind of the hc that it's Jake that asked oc out on a date on Steven's behalf. Well then things are gonna be messy. Bc haha they've met before. Like way before Marc met Khonshu and became his fist of vengence.

They met when she was in college and hit it off from there. I don't want to give away too much of their relationship but long story short. Jake does break contact with her.

So when everyone finds out about Jake things get awkward real fast and real bad.

Small hint of their relationship is ???? To lovers trope.

Khonshu is a manipulative bird brain and Izanami commit Khonshu hate crimes on the reg as she should.

Speaking of Izanami.

Goddess of Death and Creation. The overseer of Yomi, the underworld.

Yeah she's cool. Kinda unhinged but cool.

A bit over the top, but aren't all gods are???

Kinda gives off Scaramouche vibes from Genshin Impact but not as arrogant you know. She's not very well liked within the Japanese pantheon due to her role and also from her ex-husband's influences.

She really does care for oc. Thinks of her as her kin. She was a mother once too.

Speaking of her ex-husband, also commits hate crimes against her ex-husband Izanagi too (iykyk) and tbh go off queen.

Only oc sees her and she takes an appearance of a normal woman but dresses expensively. Thinking of Manwol from Hotel de Luna, same vibes as well tbh bc when I write Nami I think of Manwol tbh.

Oh possession is a thing too, ig

Bc with how oc acts, Izanami needs to take over when push comes to shove. Though this happens rarely.

Mostly this happens when oc is unconscious and in peril danger. Or when provoked enough to encite her fury or vise versa (usually the later is towards other gods of different pantheon, yeah she's still bitter they did nothing to restore balance in life and death). Sometimes when oc's spirit/consciousness is forcefully pushed out of their body, Izanami takes control to make sure the body is breathing.

Overall that's it for this word vomit. It's still in the process but if you want to know more lmk bc I haven't seen this idea in Moon knight fics just yet.

Fic idea inspiration taken from: Hotel de Luna (kdrama), Goblin (kdrama), Tomorrow (kdrama), The Uncanny Encounter (kdrama), Tale of the Nine Tailed (kdrama), Death Mark (game), Spirit Hunter NG (game), Mieruko-chan (manga)

Why I Think We're Using Hades Wrong

The basic summary of what I want to talk about right now is this: The Kirby fandom currently believes the Japanese texts say Morpho Knight is a knight from Hades. I think that's wrong.

Or rather, the specific translation of 黄泉 yomi as Hades rather than just The Underworld is what I disagree with, it's true that he's said to be from the Underworld. And catchy title aside, 'wrong' is a strong word, translations are subjective in the end. But I think the usage of Hades as the Underworld that Morpho Knight comes from is misguided.

So in the first place, to explain my point, what is the original line and why was it translated as Hades?

As we all know, there's no mention of Hades nor Hell nor the Underworld or anything of the sort in English.

銀河最強と言われる白き騎士がもたらした、長年の生命の叫びに共鳴し、黄泉からの騎士となって降臨する。

This is the line that mentions the Underworld in Japanese. (It's actually also in his boss title.) The line in the official English version of the game is this:

Brought into existence by "the greatest warrior in the galaxy" and reborn as a knight of doom through years of adversity—now begins an epic battle with a pure being twisted by a dark past.

The part that is relevant to us is 黄泉からの騎士, where 騎士 means Knight, からの means from, and 黄泉, yomi, is the term which gets translated as Hades. So Morpho Knight is the Knight from Yomi/Hades/The Underworld, localized as 'a knight of doom'.

Now, if you take a quick google search of the word 'yomi', you will find a Wikipedia page explaining Yomi as the Japanese land of the dead. So after that, you might realize, why did we neither translate 黄泉 yomi generically as 'the underworld', nor specifically as Yomi, the Japanese underworld, but instead as Hades, the Greek underworld? And yes, Hades the Underworld can be translated to Japanese as Yomi, so it's not incorrect. But why choose it over "The Underworld" or "Yomi"?

The reasoning is very simple. The word Hades appears in Star Allies' internal files. BossName.msbt has entries for each boss's title and name, such as Void Soul's entry being BossNameLastBossEx, so Void Soul is labeled as LastBossEx. Morpho Knight's entries call him SecretHades.

I'm actually not sure if any other files call him Hades in SA. Throughout most of the files he's actually called Butterflyknight or Bknight for short. Forgotten Land calls him MorphoKnight.

So, the ones originally fan translating Morpho's Japanese description chose to translate Yomi as Hades because the word is used in an official capacity, internally.

Except, of course, the big problem here is... why would the entry be referring to the place he's from rather referring to the boss itself?

Hades is both the name of the underworld and the name of the God. The entry isn't calling the place he's from Hades, it's calling Morpho Knight himself Hades. Morpho Knight is Hades, God of the Underworld.

Of course, Hades being the name of the God is much more well known than Hades being the name of the Underworld in the first place. So chances are that Japanese developers using the term Hades would be using it as the name of the God of the Underworld, not the name of the Underworld itself.

It's understandable why the translator at the time wanted to use the word Hades, since Morpho Knight isn't called anything that could be translated as Hades in Star Allies, but the word Yomi could be translated as Hades the underworld. Or perhaps it really didn't occur to them that the word was being used as Hades the God vs Hades the Underworld.

However, since then, we got official attack names for Morpho Knight from the Shogakukan guidebook for Star Allies. Two important ones we have 極楽冥獣 Gokuraku Meiju for his ghost attack, and 極楽冥王斬閃 Gokuraku Meiou Zansen for his Ultra Sword attack.

Now, recall how I mentioned that the Greek Underworld can be translated into Japanese as 黄泉 yomi (The individual words literally mean 黄 Yellow 泉 Springs, which isn't important to this discussion). This is true, however, there is a more common term for Hades the underworld, which is 冥界 meikai (Individual words literally meaning 冥 Dark 界 World, but 冥 is not a common word for dark so it's almost exclusively used for words relating to the Underworld). And as you may be able to see here, 冥 shows up in those two attack names. We have 極楽冥獣 as Sukhavati Underworld Beast, and ironically, since we already translated 黄泉 Yomi as Hades, we have 極楽冥王斬閃 as Sukhavati Underworld King Slash Flash.

Translating 冥王 Meiou as 冥 Underworld 王 King is a literal translation, Japanese-English dictionaries will just explicitly tell you that 冥王 is Hades (or Pluto), God of the Underworld. This term is also used in the Japanese name of the Morpho Doomblade in Super Kirby Clash, where it's called 冥王の斬閃バルイHades' Slash Flash: Barui (Short for Barufurei, which is Morpho's Jp name).

So, in summary, Morpho Knight is called 冥王 Meiou while the place he's from is called 黄泉 Yomi. We currently translate Meiou as Underworld King and Yomi as Hades, and the reason is that Morpho is called Hades in SA's files but at the time we didn't have the term Meiou, so we gave it to Yomi. But instead, we should be translating Meiou as Hades and Yomi as Underworld.

Speaking of trying to change translations, the same original fan translation of Morpho Knight's description also simply translated 極楽 Gokuraku as Paradise. In fact, Paradise is how its officially translated. Yet even still, the fandom interested in the original Japanese terms came to learn of the more specific translation Sukhavati. (And the reason translators think its significant is partially because Void's descriptions use a different, more generic term for paradise, 楽園 Rakuen.) So I don't think it's impossible for perception of Hades and Underworld to change as well.

Ok, so I just finished chapter 4 of Master Detective Archives: Rain Code a day ago and I absolutely LOVED it. There's so much to talk about in this chapter but what I want to dive into is the book of death, the rule of the Mystery Labyrinth and Shinigami and Yuma both in this chapter and in general. My thoughts are inevitably going to be all over the place and I haven't proof read it so bear with me here (also I haven't seen anything about chapter 5 yet so no spoilers for that please).

MAJOR SPOILERS WARNING UP TO CHAPTERS 0- 4 UP AHEAD:

The Mystery Labyrinth and Shinigami are, to me at least, one of the most fascinating aspects of the game. The purpose of both is to uncover the absolute truth on a higher power; cut and dry, no morality or consideration for the circumstances needed. The Book of Death grants whoever has their hands on it to-- best described with Number One's mindset-- discard all emotions to reach a perfect deduction. Murderers, regardless of why, who and how, are punished as such, recieving the death penalty for their crimes every time. But not only is that logic deeply flawed, but also extremely hypocritical and put in the hands of humans with no right to wield it.

Throughout the game we see Yuma clear Labyrinth after Labyrinth and even though he exposes the absolute truth each time, he clearly struggles from the weight of his own power and the damage he causes. Yes, he's able to save others like Kurumi and the Watchmaker by solving cases, however he's forced to deal with the guilt of killing the culprits as a consequence. Take those Aetheria girls for example. The Labyrinth condemned them as murderers for killing Karin. By its rules, that is the absolute truth and only they will solely be punished. But we know the actual truth is that they resorted to what they did because of Karin killing Aiko and with Kanai Ward being the way it is, her death would be swept under the rug with no justice served. They're guilty, that doesn't change no matter what the motive was, but we as people can empathise, try to find a solution appropriate for their circumstance based on real world discernment. Same with Yakou. Led by the nose and egged on by Yomi, he killed Huesca, the man who murdered his wife for nothing more than a way to keep her quiet because she posed a risk to his position. In the Mystery Labyrinth, he was deemed the perpetrator and killed (if he wasn't already dead). That is what it considered the 'truth', but what it blatantly ignored was Yomi's involvement in whole thing. How he instigated Yakou's crime by sending him that letter and the items he needed, knowing full well he'd take the bait. He hired Fink the Slaughter Artist to stab Yakou and cover his tracks. All the atrocities and immoral acts he's commited long before the case even. In the face of higher power, he was deemed innocent, solely for not having the blood of Huesca directly on his hands (nevermind everyone else he's most likely killed). Yakou and the Aetheria girls have done something terrible, but at the end of the day they were people placed in difficult positions with no other options to get the justice they so desperately needed in a place like Kanai Ward. And yet, they're still judged the same as Icardi, the Nailman, the Worshipper and imposter Zilch-- hitmen and serial killers and traitors and inspired murderers that have taken the lives of others for less justifiable reasons behind their actions.

And Shinigami's perspective up until chapter 4 is no different from how the Labyrinth functions. Minus Yakou, a person she grew to care about, she enacted the same execution on every culprit because to her there is no difference between them. What we see as tragedy she sees as entertainment. What we can understand to be a desperate, broken-hearted victim she only views as another dangerous criminal. She isn't a person; she's a Death God on a much higher plane of existance, so she doesn't feel the need for compassion or empathy or understanding because it's all below her and unneeded to clear the Mystery Labyrinth. Her purpose is to seek the truth and truth only, emotions would only get in the way of that. She understands those principles better than anybody, which is why she can reap the souls of the culprits without regrets. But unlike her, Yuma is a person with an overwhelming amount of empathy and compassion, even towards culprits that didn't deserve it. And because he's human, because he's on the same plane as everyone else, the thought of killing them haunts him because he knows what conditions these people are living under, knows how limited their options were, knows that under the right circumstances that he could've ended up the same. Heck, in a way, he is the same. Where three girls kill their classmate as revenge for killing their friend, he kills three highschoolers to find the truth and save his friend. Where a man takes matters into his own hands before his wife's killer can escape his consequences forever, he exposes the truth at the cost of his life. Regardless of his motive, Yuma has killed people in his pursuit of the truth-- a motive lacking the emotional weight and connection like revenge, or justice, or self-preservation. It's not as if that's Yuma's only reason; he does it because he wants to save others. That's the conviction he needs to see it all through to the end and that's great, but the same goes for every other culprit (except Icardi , the Worshipper and Zilch). They don't kill for themselves, they killed for others and that's what led them down the road they took. And still, he can pass judgement on them in the Labyrinth for an act he himself is committing by solving those cases.

All in all, when it comes to solving cases, making a pact with Shinigami and clearing the Mystery Labyrinth to obtain the truth is a double-edged sword. It allows you to reach the truth of the case and punish the culprit in one sitting, sure, but that's all it is. Humanity and morality are the price for that kind of power. The culprit will never be tried for their crime. Regardless of the motive, they will only be punished with death and you can't get out of the Labyrinth alive without commiting to ending their life in exchange for the truth. You get the truth of the case, but there is no justice to be had because only the one who did the deed is considered guilty without taking all those other factors into account. Yomi is a psychotic, immoral and downright evil piece of shit, yet even the Mystery Labyrinth-- this higher power far above our own-- couldn't punish him because he gets others to do his bidding for him, making THEM the guilty party instead. The Master Detectives with all their Fortes and abilities couldn't do anything to stop him because he's the director of the Peacekeepers with the entire city under his thumb. Martina couldn't do anything to stop him even though she's both his lover (and I use that term very loosely) and the vice-director. It took Makoto, the guy who's literally only one position above him, to take him down. As satisfying as it was to see that scumbag taken down by the system he created with own two hands only to have it turned upside down and be treated with the complete opposite philosophy of what he put on others, what his idea of justice truly was, it just goes to show how the Labyrinth isn't always the solution. The rules it abides by and what it considers the absolute truth don't always correlate with the real world.

Discarding emotions and staying professional is important to reach a perfect deduction removed from bias, but compassion, empathy and good judgement are what is needed to decide on how to handle the people involved in the crimes. Some people are just bad people, others trying to adapt to their environment because they can't do anything else, and those should be treated appropriately and separately depending on what they've done and what their reasoning was. The book of death is far from the correct solution, but here in Kanai Ward it's the only way for mysteries to not be lost with how corrupt the system is. Shinigami has a point and Yuma does too. The Mystery Labyrinth is hypocritical and a power he should not have in his hands, but he has to do what it takes to protect others while still holding on to his humanity and understanding for himself and everyone involved. Both ideals are what it takes to make a great detective and I think does the game does a good job at not making this dilemma all black and white, rather more of a 'necessary evil'. I wonder where he's gonna go from here...

Gotta give points for Desuhiko tho, Not once but twice he risked his life to save Yuma (which Honestly raised him alot to be one of my favorites) How he's not dead from this act towards YOMI of all people is wild to me (but hey, least he lived)

yeah, i gotta say i hated his ass in chapter 2 (yes its the misogyny) but he gets better once he's at a safe distance away from any woman. loved his gumshoe gabs. still not my favourite but i like him better than vivia so! he's poggers i guess!

honestly i think yomi just was so shocked at the time his mind short circuited and he forgot to command his warriors to bury him alive until it was too late

Moving along, let's see what other recorded secrets we can find in the House of Backstory.

Well, if my Makoto theory is correct, he might have been previously bonded to Shinigami. In which case, he may not have a high opinion of the new Shinigami host. Or he could be projecting his own experiences with Shinigami.

Hey, it's Zilch! What's up, buddy? Are you still a bad pupper? Or, no, I suppose you'd be a hungry pupper, right?

What, we don't want to say hi to our old buddy-pal Zilch? I want to see if he still has his pupper hat. It's hard to make out from this distance and I never did get to scritch his ears.

HINT HINT. Yuma learned his lesson from his first altercation with a "zombie" and wasn't about to take the bait, so Makoto had to nudge him.

He DOES. He does have the pupper hat. Hey, buddy. How's it going? Murdered anyone interesting lately? 'Cause I have. I killed my boss earlier today, in fact! It was heartbreaking.

That checks out. So it wasn't just Master Detectives. Anyone trying to enter Homunculus City had to be put down. That was Fake Zilch's job. He was pretty good at it too.

Interesting but not surprising that Yomi specifically was his client. That makes sense. The WDO made arrangements with Amaterasu to bring Detectives in, but Yomi wanted to keep them out. Bet you Makoto was the one who signed off on bringing us here to begin with.

Which would then make sense. Makoto's repeatedly said he has a lot of faith in detectives and believes they're the key to "saving" this city. That. Would follow. As something he believes in, if he previously worked for WDO to begin with.

...

...

YES. Yes, I am. Let's talk company secrets.

So help me, Yuma, do not correct him.

Goddammit Yuma, your overwhelming honesty and integrity makes me want to throw you down a flight of stairs sometimes!

At least he's too delirious to listen. That's good. Let's see if we can get him talking about things we don't know.

Wow, that lines up with when Huesca began doing corporate espionage. Yomi stepped into his office, took a big whiff, and went, "Mm, smells like corruption dough ready to be baked. And I am a hungry boy!"

Be funny if they sold homunculus secrets to WDO, allowing Makoto to get ahead and then come back and take over Amaterasu. Whole-ass self-made karmic comeuppance for Yomi.

Aww, this guy was one of Yomi's besties until we out-of-nowhere wrenched his soul from his body and fed it to a howling abyss. I hope he and Yomi were having a nice debriefing lunch when he suddenly dropped dead for no explicable reason.

Huh. That's. Fascinating, actually. So he wasn't selling corporate secrets for profit; He was. Like. Doing espionage mercantilism. Info-sharing between companies to build a stronger information base from which to carry out Amaterasu's research.

But still a fucking fascist, just in case anyone starts getting ideas about Yomi being the better alternative to Makoto.

Oh, he's an attack pupper. Suddenly, the dog imagery makes a lot of sense. He's Yomi's hound.

So he was directly involved. Makoto was confident he wouldn't tell us shit when he was setting us up to talk to the crotchety old bastard.

There it is. The three-year point, when Makoto and Forever Rain came to the city.

They'd been doing homunculus research for seven years at that point, but their big new homunculus research project for the ongoing homunculus endeavor was Project: Homunculus? The hell were they calling it before? Project: Immortal Abomination? Project Alchemic Puppetry? Project Fuck Happened To Your Eyes?

Yomi holds that same belief. These two hate Makoto for what he's done to their city and company. Making me buy in more and more into my "Everyone in Kanai Ward is homunculi" theory. I think Makoto did that on purpose because he sees it as some brilliant new wave in human evolution or some shit. Yomi resented him for it.

I said before that Makoto's talking a lot about what he's against but only offers platitudes for what he's for. "Making and maintaining homunculi" is probably what he's for.

Was that when everyone became homunculi? Maybe the entire city was killed in the toxic gas leak from the mine, and Makoto then had homunculi made to replace them? Or something?

Must be easy to seize control of a corporation after everyone dies and gets remade by you. Makoto's sudden takeover seemed sketchy, but now it seems even moreso. The Blank Week is probably a week of time that the entire city collectively blipped out on, because that was the period of time during which the originals were dead and the homunculi were in production.

Having no way to know what happened, they'd have little recourse but to eventually write it off as a collective WTF.

...well, that's a curve ball. So. Maybe Makoto was anti-homunculi from the start after all? Or he already made his masterpiece and didn't want Amaterasu's trash science to intervene. Or something. I don't know. I wasn't prepared for this.

52 YomiJuu

It had seemed like a good idea to move away. Houses weren't built to last anyway. They started rotting away after a few decades and would need torn down. It was the perfect excuse for them to simply move away from everything and make a life together elsewhere.

Except...

They'd moved into the new house and the neighbours came round with some niceties. Sets of towels and food, things to bide them over till everything was unpacked. Juurou had accepted them and made polite conversation with them, saying he'd be sure to bring them some oranges when the new trees bore fruit. Yomi had joined in the conversation, asking about local produce and asking them to write down recipes for him. Everything had been completely textbook nice introduction to the neighbourhood.

And as soon as they left, Juurou had stopped talking entirely.

He hadn't said anything in hours, no matter what Yomi said to him. He'd gone to the kotatsu with his manuscript paper and just sat there, not talking. He looked ready to start writing but his pen never met the paper.

When Yomi got out the bath and saw him still sitting there, a chill had shot up his spine. It wasn't right that a human could sit completely still and silent for so long. The sun had already set and it had grown dark. He'd never seen one stay like that for so long.

"Juurou," Yomi called gently to him, but still got no response.

Gently, he slipped into a smaller form of his actual self, allowing himself to glide across the floor silently to Juurou's side. Only when he got close did he realise Juurou was slumped over at the shoulders.

"Juurou, wake up. You'll catch a cold," Yomi whispered in his ear.

"Yomi," Juurou mumbled in response, as he always did when he was asleep.

"You can't sleep like this. Let's go to bed," Yomi shifted back into his human self, petting Juurou's head to gently rouse him.

Juurou suddenly turned, arm wrapping around Yomi's newly formed neck, his entire weight meeting Yomi's chest. It wasn't easy to maintain himself when he'd just shifted. His spine had only just formed and couldn't support the weight of them both. He hit the floor, Juurou sprawled across him.

"Don't give them so much attention," Juurou mumbled, weight still dead across him.

"Yes, yes," Yomi replied, petting his hair once more. He'd be more careful in future.

I love this cause I genuinely have no idea how this got on the list? I assume it had to have come from the "cheesy hits" playlist I listen to cause I dont think its on "2000s AMVs" and I don't think it gets put in with McBusted recs (but also McBusted weren't on the list at all so smth is up that this got in but not them)

[Ask Meme]

Evil West

Developed by Flying Wild Hog

Published by Focus Entertainment

Release Date 2022

Tested on Xbox Series X

MSRP 49,99 USD

We find ourselves in post-Civil War United States era in an alternate history in which American Frontier is infected and riddled with vampires, human allies of them and their monstrous creatures, ranging from weak skeleton-like ones to mutated gigantic more robust ones. We’re Jesse Rentier, one of the last remaining vampire hunters, and we are given a series of missions with one objective in sight: to kill and exterminate every and each vampire and their human supporters and erase them from the face of earth. Welcome to Evil West.

First things first, when I saw Flying Wild Hog studio’s logo in the intro, I was surprised a bit, this is the same developer of Shadow Warrior 3, a game I reviewed recently. Apart from indie 2D game Trek to Yomi, Evil West is the following major game upon Shadow Warrior 3 from the studio, even though I will restrain myself from comparing two games in every way I feel the need to point out some specific aspects.

As a third-person shooter, how does it function? Well, Evil West is a strictly linear game in terms of environments and missions, each mission lasting from 20-25 minutes. Mission locations don’t feel unique, they are stereotypical in a sense that the theme is post-civil war era United States in wild west, what you do, how you interact or the combat in these locations don’t add anything extraordinary to your overall experience, locations are mostly…brown or similar dark colours. There is always a path to follow and you arrive the designated location for boss or mini-boss fights after spending around 5 minutes ‘exploring’ (and I am using this word extremely loosely) the place the mission is set in (let it be dungeons, small caves, devastated small towns, or narrow canyons). I get that the time of the day should be after sunset to fight the vampires since they cannot endure sunlight, this forces the missions to take place when it’s dark or almost dark, indirectly rendering player experience feel exactly same in throughout the game. This is a stark contrast to Shadow Warrior 3, a game that is colourful in every way, including enemy designs, environmentals, weapons, lighting. Evil West falls into repetitive gameplay after couple of early missions, and as much as I wish to keep up with the story and what’s going on and with whom we are fighting, the game gets…stale unfortunately. Player interest in game or story can be increased with plot twists or distinct characters. Evil West does not offer either of them, it keeps going on how it starts, yes, you do meet new characters along the way, but they are always accessory to cutscenes, not actual gameplay. I wish to draw upon an example from Red Dead Redemption 2, a game which is set in also wild west. In RDR2, you never say to yourself “okay, this town looks like the one before, doesn’t it?”, I can confidently say this as a player who spent 95 hours in that world, and you always approach to a new location with intrigue and wonder. In Evil West, the linear gameplay forces and pushes a closed-world, you cannot just walk to a different direction than the one game allows. Despite the fact that Shadow Warrior 3 is another linear game, it has vibrant and eye-catching environment and enemy designs, you are always stepping into a fresh location and it doesn’t get monotonous. Often the missions take place in towns and you see these houses in ruins, you get to visit and enter only one house, and you will, not surprisingly, find in-game currency, and you leave the house, and you will continue your given route. I wish I could visit at least another house, just to visit, just to see if there is anything else to discover, maybe a collectible, something personal from the people who used to dwell here. Sadly, if you have these sorts of expectations, Evil West will let you down to the core.

The combat is satisfying and responsive, and this is where the game shines and it leaves me pretty satisfied, I cannot remember the last one where I can guarantee you that you will have a fun time killing vampires in this game. The game introduces you to new gadgets, skills and guns at a great speed. You will start off with a revolver, then a rifle, shotgun and more. I kept the best of them to the last: a gauntlet. The massive gauntlet on your wrist is your primary melee combat weapon, and you learn to love it as you progress and upgrade it. You can do combos, heavy attack, sprinting attack, throw your enemy and shoot them midair and electrocute them.

The main menu:

In the menu, you have Character: this is where you find visual outfits that is earned during the game, these skins don’t have any impact on your stats or power. In Upgrades: you spend in-game currency to upgrade your gauntlet, guns, and various tools, you earn and find enough currency to upgrade yourself once or twice during a mission. Currency can be found in glowing crates in all locations. In Perks: this is where you see two skill trees for your Gauntlet and Zapper. Except for the starter perks, the rest of them all have level requirements to unlock, meaning that you cannot upgrade a certain skill over and over again, and more or less you will unlock each perk one by one in each category as you level up.

The glitch I touch on:

I’d like to talk about issues or glitches I found as well. When the character’s back is right up against a wall or a structure, the camera gets obstructed by it, or the said structure disrupts the visual partially, this isn’t a game-breaking bug, and something to be addressed. Oh boy, there is even a grammatical error in codex entry for  Vergil Olney, “they’re” is written where “their” is the intended word.

When I try to shoot at Nagal with my rifle or revolver, the enemy dodges my bullets in a weird way with perfect accuracy no matter how hard I try, I am not sure if this enemy type is meant to act this way, or this is some unexpected glitch. I checked the codex entry for Nagal, the description doesn’t mention anything like this, it is okay for different enemy types having strengths and weaknesses, but Nagal is so…frustrating, even in point-blank range you cannot shoot it, your only option is melee and when you try to attack them your attack attempt is blocked almost every time and you get overwhelmed because there is often three or four Nagals in a fight.

The discussed enemy in action:

It would be much better if the environment and NPCs were a bit alive, for example when you shoot at horses or people, there is zero reaction as if nothing happens. Perhaps the developer team didn’t mind this and didn’t create any animation for this situation, at least it would feel more grounded if the game said something like “You Killed Citizens, Try Again” upon shooting at NPCs.

You can find two instances of this:

And in a pub:

The boss fight in the fifth mission is a bit unbalanced, that was the only boss fight I failed three times and decided to decrease the difficulty from Normal to Story (the easiest difficulty). The thing is that, during fight you can deal critical damage to enemies when a yellow mark on the enemy shows up, and you need to make use of this short period but as soon as yellow mark appears the wasps, Screeching Devils, spawn and attack you all at the same time and you have to shoot them down not to get killed. In other boss fights I knew that I could defeat them by changing my strategy next time once I died, yet this specific boss fight is so one-sided due to timing of the wasps spawning and critical damage period overlapping. It is understandable the boss fight or certain level is challenging, however it stops being fun when the game works against you, not “for” you. The rationality behind a game being “challenging” is that the game provides you all the material and means to overcome your enemies, if these are not met, then the game is unbalanced and unjust. This is where the fifth mission stands, the player isn’t allowed to defeat the enemies due to irrational and misguided timing.

My final verdict is slightly muddled, Evil West will satisfy you and keep you enjoyed as long as your expectations are surface-level and combat-focused, don’t expect to come across anything deeper than that.