#but then kaito came and the shinichi community is like

[ninthfeather]

Ho Ho Ho 🎅🏻

Hi there! I wish you a happy new year!

I’m already working on your gift 🎁

You had a lot of ideas in your form. It was helpful while brainstorming!

I really liked the idea to think about friendships some more! What do you like the most about those friendships you mentioned?

- DCMK Secret Santa

So the thing I enjoy most about a lot of the platonic relationships in DCMK is how complex they are!

Heiji is, in every sense of the phrase, Shinichi’s ride-or-die, and vice versa. They may bicker and compete, but they also trust each other implicitly and are completely willing to hide bodies or risk their lives if that's what the other one needs. We joke about how obsessed with Shinichi Heiji is, but really what happened is that Heiji went into his first encounter with Shinichi expecting a straightforward competition with someone on his level and came out with tremendous respect for Shinichi and a renewed sense of purpose as a detective. And while Shinichi frequently plays up their competition and is insufferable whenever he wins, he doesn't tolerate it when anyone else looks down on Heiji, and he panics if the guy is in danger. In short, codependent weirdo kings.

Hakuba and Kaito are so precious to me because there's this really profound unspoken understanding between the two of them of a game that they're playing with each other that absolutely no one else is playing or even aware of. Somehow, without really communicating about it in any way, they've established a set of boundaries and agreements that govern how they compete as detective and thief, and despite their outward dislike of one another and their sincere distaste for each other's life paths, that trust between them is so deeply rooted. Hakuba wants to defeat Kaito but he'll do things like withholding evidence or acting as KID’s informant if he believes it's necessary to making their competition fair. Kaito will trust Hakuba not to betray him despite having no reason to do so. They have like one single social skill between them and they're both extremely isolated so instead of forming a normal peer relationship they're socializing via trying to outwit each other. The rituals are so freaking intricate.

I could go on for hours about the Nagano Trio and how I adore every single iteration of their dynamic. Whether they are platonic or romantic it doesn't matter, they've been inextricably entwined with one another since childhood and despite a lot of conflicts and misunderstanding, they've never stopped being entwined. Even while pushing each other away, their actions have been dictated by those bonds. You can see Kansuke’s influence in the path Yui’s and Taka’aki’s lives have taken and vice versa. And a lot of it is really messy and shot through with guilt and regrets, but ultimately they still all care about each other so so much.

Akai and Camel are also just so intriguing. Their relationship is a messy combination of guilt and obligation and deep respect. Camel can't really think of Akai as a normal human being with flaws and shortcomings, and Akai is equally incapable of communicating how isolating that sort of idolization is. They would absolutely die for each other, but they are never going to have a frank discussion of their feelings.

I could keep going, but honestly I feel like I have made my point. DCMK is such a good source of messy, profound platonic relationships and I am so here for it.

[hayaku14]

Shinichi wears short shorts at home no this is not my personal desire what y'all talking about and Kaito is lying on his thighs taking a selfie. He uploads it on his ig and everyone's like 'OMG THIGHS' 'now whose thighs are those 😳' 'zoom in a bit to the left thigh and you'll see a hickey 😏' and some rabid Shinichi fan out there would be like 'OH MY GOD I KNOW THOSE THIGHS THAT'S FUCKING KUDOU SHINICHI' and the online world descends into madness.

[takaraphoenix]

Fic Writer Review

Thanks to @light-miracles​ for tagging me! <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

As of this week, 1004 fics! :D”

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

8,052,836 words and counting ;)

3. How many fandoms have you written for?

Gosh that depends on how you define “fandom”. Like, does the Rise of the Brave, Tangled Dragons fandom count as one, because the crossover makes it one fandom, or would you count the movies individually? Same goes to DC.

The way I would count it, I’d say 27. Counting all the DC properties under the DC umbrella as one, same for the crossover fandoms.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (Marvel, Loki/Tony, 6245 kudos)

The Lion’s Pride (Voltron, Shiro/Keith/Lance, 5615 kudos)

Percy and the Ghost King of Summers High (PJatO, Nico/Percy, 4680 kudos)

Percy Jackson, Ambassador of Hades (PJatO, Nico/Percy, 3841 kudos)

My College Boyfriend (PJatO, Nico/Percy, 3613 kudos)

Deadass, this feels like a glitch. I have written seventy-nine multiple-chapter fics. By virtue of having multiple chapters, they tend to draw in a bigger crowd of people. And even if not, I could think of a dozen of more deserving oneshots off the top of my head, at least. I do not understand number 5 at all, it makes no sense, I have 1004 fics and by virtue of people clicking a button, this incredibly... mundane... not-even-3k-long fic is the fifth place for most-heart-button-clicks...? Like, it’s not a bad fic, it is just... impossibly boringly slice of life? Nothing happens in it? It’s not even one of the long oneshots where a lot of plot or feelings - or heck even insanely kinky smut I’d get - happens? I truly can not fathom what made this story so much more worthy of clicking the dumb heart-button than all of the hundreds of stories that have... so much more going on in it...? My brain genuinely can’t comprehend this.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

Always. Because it feels like the polite thing to do. Sadly, receiving comments is not a given. Even when people like a fic - especially on AO3, with its cop-out “just click here to leave a heart” alternative, and yes I absolutely do think that that’s part of why many people don’t leave comments, because they are so conditioned through social media to think that a like-button is all it takes to communicate. So, in this comment-economy, I do think it’s worth to say thank you to those who do take the time and make the effort to leave actual feedback and truly let you know they enjoyed the story or what they enjoyed about the story.

6. A fic you've written with the angstiest ending.

That’d be a Beyblade oneshot from my German fandom days that was unrequited love ending in a suicide.

7. Do you write cross overs?

I used ot greatly dislike crossovers, because they only cater to a very specific group of people where those fandoms actually overlap for. But then I came across the whole Tangled/Brave/RotG/HttYD crossover fandom and it kind of took me by surprise. Opened my eyes to crossovers and since then, I’ve dipped into quite a couple different kinds of crossovers.

8. Ever received hate on a fic?

Were you really a fanfic author in the 2010 decade if you didn’t receive hate from the censorship and purity cult? Or, heck, in the beginning of that decade, from the homophobic “ew slash ships are evil and gross” crowd? :/

9. Do you write smut?

You could say that, yeah. *chuckles*

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

*ugly sobbing* I hate wattpad--

11. Ever had a fic translated?

I have been asked for permission more often than I can count, but I just... I just don’t like that? The thought of my fics on other people’s account, even when they do give credit to me as the original author.

And a bunch of the stolen fics on wattpad were, indeed, people who just decided to translate my fics and post them, all without my permission.

I did translate one fic myself though, because I wrote it when Germany passed the marriage equality law, so I wrote it in German and then figured I should also post it in English. ^^

12. Have you ever co written a fic?

Yes, I have! With the very lovely @kimmycup! ^-^

13. All time Fav ship.

ALL time. I think I have to go with Kaito/Shinichi from Detective Conan. It’s, by now, the ship that’s been with me the longest in an active way. I still get excited about them, I even wrote a fic for them just last month to celebrate my 1000th AO3 fic.

14. WIP you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

*looks shamefully at Animexx* Basically all my old Beyblade fics. I dropped out of that fandom too suddenly and it doesn’t help that they’re in German and I’ve stopped writing in German.

15. Writing strengths?

Writing speed and the ability to plan ahead; both, when I write a fic as well as planning my schedule ahead.

16. Writing weakness?

Endings? I really struggle with when to end a fic and how.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

It’s stupid and unnecessary. Use italics and note what language they’re speaking in. Like, look, if it’s a language you actually speak, I can understand the temptation, but 90% of those include an A/N about how the author used Google translate for that and just... why.

And I straight-up hate when authors then don’t include the translation directly behind the spoken part but rather at the very end of the chapter... I don’t... I don’t want to scroll down to look at what I am just trying to read in the middle of the chapter and then have to find the place I was before? It completely breaks the reading flow.

I think that petnames, even some phrases, do make things more authentic, when you’re writing bilingual characters. But when it’s entire dialogues, that’s too much and should just be indicated that it is being said in another language.

18. First Fandom you wrote for?

Yu-Gi-Oh!

19. What's your fav fic you've written so far?

It always depends. I have a lot of fics I am very proud of, or that I think are incredibly well-done. But for me my favorite fic would be defined by the one I enjoy rereading the most. Within the last year or so, I’d say it’s probably The Lost Soulmarks, but there are a bunch I’m bouncing back and forth between and it’s also always up to what fandom or pairing I’m craving. There’s no one holy grail fic that I hold over all others, I guess.

Tagging @kimmycup, @fallenqueen2, @miazeklos, @donnas-troia, @justonemorechapternicercy

[lisatelramor]

Be a Better Me Ch 9

One more left after this!

Chapter 9

“Do you go to school?” Conan asks Kaito.

Kaito, in disguise as a young woman just for the fun of it (and for practice because skills need constant upkeep), smiles. “Of course I go to school.”

“And yet you happen to show on a day that only my school is closed for water damage.” His little kid friends are arguing about something on the other end of the playground. Conan watches them like he’s just waiting for them to remember he exists and drag him into whatever their scheming is. Scheming being the accurate term because Haibara Ai is part of that group and anything that makes her smirk, Kaito has learned, isn’t nearly as fun for the person on the other end of that look.

“I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“There was a heist a week ago.”

“And you kicked a soccer ball at me. That’s hardly communication.”

“You could just show up to Agasa’s.”

Kaito hums. “And how often are you actually there?”

“Okay, fair point. But you could talk to Haibara.”

“You say that like she isn’t terrifying.” Ai had a habit of updating him about what new things she figured out about Kaito’s body—both human and robotic—which hardly endeared her to him. He’d developed a habit of trying to avoid her whenever he actually had to drop in to Agasa’s place because being told in detail how your body replicated synthetic blood from what you ate is not pleasant conversation. Nor was the fact that she’d actually been studying Kaito’s corpse even though he doesn’t want her to. Kaito really doesn’t care how it’s not decomposing or what’s keeping the brain alive; it’s something he doesn’t want to think about.

“Oh, she is terrifying. That’s all part of being her friend.”

“Is she friends with any of you?” Kaito asks because from the bits he’s gotten out of them, Ai is the person who made the poison that changed Conan. And she’s older than Shinichi and Kaito both. He doesn’t know what to make of her, and all the more reason to avoid her.

“Yes,” Conan says. “She cares, and it’s not just guilt. She cares for the kids, and she at least tolerates me.” He smirks back at Ai as she lifts an eyebrow their direction. Conan makes a quick ring around his eye with his finger and thumb and the eyebrow lowers.

“Hey. Way to rat a guy out.”

“Please, she’d realize who you were a few minutes into talking with you if she came over here. She’s scary perceptive about that kind of thing.”

“It’s probably the PTSD hypervigilance,” Kaito grumbles.

Conan kicks him in the shin and Kaito swears under his breath.

“Your bony feet are a weapon.”

“I know,” Conan says. “C’mon, let’s go rope the kids into something before they spring something on us.”

“What, you expect me to join you?” Kaito asks. “I’m just a passing young woman enjoying a conversation.”

“Well you’re going to be a young woman playing with some kids.” Conan grabs Kaito’s hand and pulls, and it’s follow or be knocked sideways on his modest high heels. Brat.

It’s a good think Kaito doesn’t mind children.

o*O*o

Conan is at Agasa’s place when Kaito next shows up, the Kirin’s Horn heist fresh in his mind. It’s clearly still on Conan’s mind too because he glares at Kaito when he enters the room.

“You!” Conan growls.

“Me!” Kaito says, trying not to feel intimidated. It’s actually pretty hard since he knows intimately just how hard Conan can kick.

“You’re a jerk.”

“Agreed,” Ai says from her place on the sofa, book in hand.

“For knocking you out?” Kaito says. “All’s fair at heists, or did I miss a memo?”

“I am going to sic the police on you so hard next time,” Conan says.

“You got off lucky this time.”

“You chloroformed me.”

“Originally,” Kaito says, “it was going to be a Taser.”

Both Ai and Conan give him horrified looks.

“Oi, not like a full strength one! I don’t want to kill you.” Kaito scrubs the back of his neck and goes to sit on the couch that isn’t currently full of not-children with a grudge at the moment. “I was testing a lower power version and everything, and by testing, I mean I Tasered myself. Fun fact: robots and electricity apparently don’t mix.”

“Oh my god, what did you do?” Conan asks still horrified, but also morbidly curious.

“I, er, might have shorted something out temporarily. And temporarily disrupted some of my bio-synthetic processes.”

“Meaning you almost died,” Ai says with the level tone of a scientist making an observation. “You’re an idiot.”

“Oi, It’s not like I could have known how I’d react. Most things I handle like a human.” Kaito wrinkles his nose at her. “Hakuba already gave me a riot act on doing dangerous shit without supervision so I don’t need to hear it from you.”

“Still an idiot. Also, don’t Taser Kudo, we still don’t know how much the toxin has harmed his heart.”

Kaito blinks and Conan grimaces.

“I thought you said it was fine,” Conan says.

“I said I didn’t notice any signs of problems, but that doesn’t mean it’s fine. The change feels like a heart attack, and that’s probably significant.”

“Noted,” Kaito says. “I’d feel bad if I actually killed you.”

Conan looks unimpressed. “Wow, such strong feelings.”

Kaito rolls his eyes. “I’d be devastated if I killed anyone, that doesn’t make you special.”

“And I thought our friendship meant something,” Conan says, deadpan.

Kaito snickers.

“Are you here for a reason or did you just so happen to feel social?” Ai asks.

“A little of column A, a little of column B,” Kaito says with an airy wave of his hand. “Catch up on Beika news, visit one of my favorite detectives and his lovely scientist friend,  run a scan to triple check I really didn’t short anything out with all the electricity going on the other day…”

“Get to the lab, idiot,” Ai says setting her book aside. “Agasa-hakase isn’t here today, so you’ll have to have me as a lab tech.”

“Joy.” Ai always has a way of leaving Kaito uncomfortable.

“I could leave you to struggle on your own.”

“No, no, the help is appreciated. I can’t do full body scans all on my lonesome.” Kaito stretches. “Any new murders since we last saw each other, Tantei-kun?”

“A drowning and an onsen murder actually.”

Kaito pauses. “…Was the drowning at the onsen or are these two separate murders?”

Conan looks at him with too-old eyes. “Which do you think?”

“You have terrible luck, did you know that?”

“I’m very aware.”

“He’s still on my shit list for the onsen murder,” Ai says, already prepping the lab with efficiency.

“Wow, what did he do?” Kaito drags a chair to the best position for a body scan.

“He ran into the women’s baths.”

“You’d just found a dead body!” Conan sputters. “You got your revenge already! It wasn’t like I was even paying attention to you!”

“I’m not that quick to forgive.”

Kaito snorts. “You’re lucky it wasn’t my friend Aoko. She tends to hit first, question later.”

“Speaking from experience?” Ai asks.

“Lots of it. I mean I have it coming, but still. It’s best for my self-preservation that I’ve mostly outgrown flipping her skirt.”

Both Ai and Conan give him identical disgusted grimaces. “You deserve any head trauma you get from that,” Ai says.

“Fair enough. I don’t really get why it’s such a big deal to so many people though, honestly. Bodies are bodies.”

“You’re the one that used underwear to distract me in the Black Star heist,” Conan says.

“To distract you yeah, but it’s more funny to me than distracting?” Kaito shrugs. “To be honest I think that’s something that changed since I became…like this. I can remember feeling… things… but those sort of thought skew toward the romantic rather than the physical these days.”

“While that makes me want to pick apart your brain,” Ai says in that bland, terrifying way of hers, “I need you to hold still so I can take the scan.”

Kaito gives her a mocking little salute and makes like a statue. Ai positions the machine around him in multiple angles until she’s satisfied.

“If you don’t feel that, what’s with all the attempts at kissing people?” Conan grumbles. People, meaning Ran, Kaito guesses.

“Kissing is nice,” Kaito says when Ai will let him move again. “Not that I’ve done much of it. I thought you realized by now I’m a lot more show than not when I’m Kid. Or in general really.” He doesn’t pretend too much around them these days and that’s kind of nice. It’s also more than a bit unnerving whenever he stops and considers that he’s being vulnerable, but it’s probably worth it in the long run. He’s been told a lot lately that honesty and openness make for stronger friendships. “Half of all that is just to mess with you.”

“Oi. Do you want a soccer ball to the face?”

Kaito snickers. “You have to admit, you make the best panicked faces.”

“I hope Ran punches you next time.”

“I’d deserve it,” Kaito agrees cheerfully.

“Well,” Ai says, “I’m not seeing anything obvious, but I’ll go over the scans in detail and get back to you. In the meantime, look out for anything off and don’t play lightning rod.”

“There goes that fantasy of hang gliding in a thunder storm,” Kaito says.

“I know you’re joking,” Conan says, “but sometimes it’s honestly hard to tell.”

“You wouldn’t find it cool to be in the sky with lightning flashing around?”

“No. Not at all. I’m not suicidal.”

Kaito sighs dramatically. “It would be like being one with nature.”

“Right up until you’re electrocuted or blown into a tree.”

“Maybe. Eh, I need to change things up more. I’ve been using the glider more lately and it’s getting predictable. Though to be fair, it’s faster than the balloons I used to use.”

Conan wrinkles his nose. “Balloons?”

“They don’t rely on wind or a specific height to power them,” Kaito says reasonably. “They’re slow though, and can burst. Which isn’t the best once guns come into play.”

“Right. Don’t tell me your plans.”

“You’re going to wonder next heist whether I’ll be using the glider at all, or if I’ll use it just because I said I shouldn’t,” Kaito says with a wink.

“Still hate you.” Conan has that grumpy-but-reluctantly-fond expression on and Kaito’s counting it as a win. Conan’s only pretending to be annoyed on principle.

“Kuroba,” Ai says cutting into the banter. “Could I talk to you alone for a moment?”

“Yes?” Kaito tilts his head to try and glimpse what Ai’s doing, but it doesn’t give any hints for what she wants. Nor does a glance at Conan. Conan shrugs in a way that could mean ‘who knows’ or maybe also ‘good luck’ before wandering out. Kaito’s pretty sure he’s outside the door eavesdropping because that’s standard detective nosiness, but Kaito’s not going to be the one to call him out on that. He’d be doing the same thing.

“Is there something wrong with the scan?” Kaito asks when Ai’s silent a bit too long.

“No,” she says. “I will have to go over it closer just to make sure, but that’s not what this is about.” She spins around in her chair and pins Kaito with a look that is just as sharp as any of the detectives’ stares. Kaito tries not to fidget under the weight of it. “You’re aware I’ve been studying your body.”

Any remnants of Kaito’s light mood crash and burn. “I’m aware.”

“You’re also aware that I created the poison that shrunk Kudo and myself.”

“Conan might have mentioned it.”

Ai folds her hands in her lap. It should look relaxed, but it’s somehow as unsettling as if she steepled her fingers like some kind of cartoon villain. “The chamber holding your body contains an oxygenated gas that, along with some injected substance that I’ve gotten traces of in blood, halts cellular degeneration. It works as a perfect preservative, and along with a very mild electric pulse, is preserving the body’s brain. The body is dead, but it’s been preserved at the exact moment of death. From what I can assess, the cause of death is a stopped heart. The substance injected as the preservative also slowed the heart to the point of death. He would have been aware,” Ai says mercilessly, “that he was dying, but unable to fight it. The chamber would have finished the process.”

She takes a breath. “I’m creating an antidote,” she says. “For Kudo. Personally I have no interest in returning to my former age and identity, but Kudo still has a life and people to return to. In allowing me to look at how your body was preserved, you’ve actually helped me make a few steps toward that goal. It’s not the same science as the apoptoxin, but there were similarities that helped flesh out my notes.”

“So you’re closer to helping Conan be Kudo and my body’s still very dead,” Kaito says. “Great. Why did you need to tell me this?”

Ai’s lips pinch for a moment. “Your body can’t be revived by restarting its heart and lungs no matter how intact they are because of the substance injected in it. And that substance can’t be filtered reliably out. But…”

“But what?” Kaito asks. He’s tempted to fling himself from the chair and leave, but something about her hesitation makes him stay a little longer.

“There’s a chance I could add to it and induce a similar effect as the apoptoxin. The most likely outcome of this would be that the body dies properly and for good. But,” Ai says softly, “there’s a small chance that it reacts the way Kudo and I did and it reverts back to a younger age. An age that’s also revivable because the toxin has run its course.”

Kaito stares. Kaito—the human Kaito—could be saved. Oh, it has to be an infinitesimally small chance of it happening, but it’s that much of a percent more than the rest of eternity spent in a glass box. And, as she said, it could kill him dead. But at least Kaito would actually be dead instead of in limbo.

But if it worked and Kaito’s body becomes a child again, what will that mean for him, the very-much-not-human Kaito? The Kaito that stole his face and stole his life and everyone he loves. Something between terror and jealousy twists in his gut. If the body gets to live, he’ll be the real Kaito again and Kaito won’t be anything.

And yet… Kaito knows that this body doesn’t have many years in it. Statistically speaking, technology doesn’t outlast a human body. A computer is lucky to get four years before something major breaks down. For Kaito’s experimental body… He’ll be lucky to get four years. He has no back-up of his brain, no depository of memories that he can add to on the off chance something goes wrong. He could probably ask Ai, Agasa, and Hakuba to collaborate on one just in case, but then again, he’s not sure he wants that either. That he could die and be replaced by a saved version of himself with gaps in memory… he doesn’t like the idea any more than the real Kaito will like it. So if this is the only shot he has, he might as well give a chance to the human Kaito. That way when he does degrade and become obsolete, they’d maybe have human Kaito still. There would be gaps left, but not as devastating of ones.

It isn’t just his choice to make though, no matter that it is his human body.

“Can I think about it?” Kaito asks, tense as a strung piano wire and doing terribly at hiding it.

“Take all the time you need,” Ai says. “It’s not something I can do overnight, and the body isn’t going anywhere. I just needed to tell you that it’s an option.”

Kaito nods. He needs to leave. He doesn’t want to look like he’s fleeing though. “Thanks for telling me. I should go make a phone call.”

He hears Ai murmur, “Don’t thank me yet,” under her breath as he turns and walks in a deceptively calm manner toward the door. He’s not fooling anyone.

There’s skittering as Conan sprinting away, but that’s fine. He can know about it, it’s not like it makes a difference. Kaito doesn’t even acknowledge Conan’s terrible attempt to look like he’s been watching television the whole time, instead walking straight for the door.

o*O*o

“Hey.” The online call connects with Kaito sitting surrounded by his fifteen doves, their soft feathers and voices soothing the tiny part of himself that kept whirling in panic.

“Kaito,” his mother says, surprised. It’s not their usual day to talk, and he’s only on voice call, not video. He doesn’t want to see what kind of expression she might make. “Is something wrong? You don’t need me to come home do you?”

As nice as it would be to have another of her visits, he won’t ask that of her. “I can’t just call?” he says lightly.

“Of course you can,” Chikage says. Warmly, like when she brushes his hair away from his forehead or gives him little side hugs when they cross into each other’s space. “You don’t ‘just call’ though.”

“Maybe I should,” Kaito says. She would appreciate a son that reached out more. But he’d appreciate her being here more. They’re both independent people, but they’re also social people and he understands. He understands why she needs to travel and see new things and reconnect with old friends. He just doesn’t always like it.

“I’d appreciate it in the future,” Chikage says, “but what did you call for now?”

“An offer was made. About Kaito.”

A beat of silence on the other end as she registers him using his own name. “What kind of offer?” she asks a lot more hesitant than a second ago. They never did talk about the body.

Maybe they should have. It’s so much easier to ignore elephants in the room than to dwell on them. “There’s a procedure Haibara Ai could do. I don’t know the numbers or science on it, but there’s a small chance she could get him alive again. There’d be side effects—” like losing a decade in age “—but he’d be Kaito and alive and human.”

“And what’s the rest of the chances?”

“It’d kill him,” Kaito says quietly. “Completely not just whatever not-death he’s in now. Being honest, it’s a lot higher percentage that he’d die than live from the sound of it, but…”

“I couldn’t kill him,” Chikage says. “I thought about it, like a coma patient on life support at a hospital, but…”

“But he’s not brain dead,” Kaito says with understanding. “I thought about it too. Not all for good reasons.” He doesn’t poke the minefield of jealousy and conflicting feelings of personhood. That way lies depression spirals. “It’s not really right to leave him like that forever though, is it?”

“No.” Chikage sighs. “A really small percentage?” she says, longing.

“Terribly small,” Kaito says. “Haibara didn’t sound confident that it would work. Still, it’d be like him—us—to leave that kind of thing to chance and play the impossible odds.”

He listens to Chikage’s breathing as she thinks, picturing her sitting in some cheesy themed hotel room with a late dinner in the form of hotel catering and the casual chaos of her suitcases slowly taking over the room. Or maybe it is still neat because Chikage reached the point of getting annoyed with clutter and put it all away until the cycle repeated. Either way she’s probably sitting on her bed with her toes tucked under the covers to keep her feet warm like she does at home when they watch movies together.

Kaito misses her terribly sometimes.

One of his doves flutters on his shoulder, right up against his neck all warm and grounding and alive. He pets her, feeling her feathers fluff and settle, her tiny body leaning into his touch.

“If it works, how will we explain two of you?” Chikage asks finally.

“If it works, he probably won’t be able to slip back into his old life, the side effects would make that impossible, and even if they didn’t, he has over a year of life and growth that never happened.” Kaito scratches the feathers along his dove’s neck. “Maybe he could go be with you. At least until he’s recovered and all. He’s… probably not going to like me much.”

“You mean you wouldn’t be your own best friend?” Chikage jokes. It’s a very weak joke, but he gives her points for trying.

“Considering how I reacted to the other robot that tried to steal our life, no.”

“…We’d make things work. If we got him back, we’d figure out a way to make it all work out.”

“Yeah.”

“It wouldn’t make me love you less,” Chikage says hitting to the heart of his fears in all of this. “You’d both be Kaito. I have enough love to go around.”

“I know. Thanks, Kaa-san.” He curls a little tighter and another bird lands on his back like that will get her pettings instead of Kaito trying not to move and dislodge her. “So.”

“I think you should try,” Chikage says. “It’s probably not going to work, but…”

“It’s resolution,” Kaito says.

“Yes.”

The dove on Kaito’s back flutters away but the one on his shoulder stays cuddled close. “Do you want to be here when…?”

Chikage is quiet long enough for Kaito to worry that the call has dropped. “I should be there,” she says, which isn’t really an answer.

“I’ll let you know when Haibara thinks she has things down to try it. You can decide then.”

“Thank you, Kaito.”

Kaito hums and lets her transition the topic to something else, something lighter and not involving death at all.

[redrobin-detective]

Ok so I’ve been seeing a bit of dcmk on my dash and I don’t know what’s it about. So can you explain what it’s about? Because it seem so interesting but I get the feeling that it you have to know both series in order to really understand it I think. Idk I’m basically confused but I want to go watch/read it tho (Anyway i love your blog)

Ah okay, so DC (Detective Conan) and MK (Magic Kaito) are technically two different mangas but they have the same author, Aoyama Gosho, and MK’s characters appear in DC and many of us are convinced the storylines will converge. MK came first but I’ll talk DC since it’s the bigger one.

Detective Conan has been running weekly since 1994 and is one of the longest running manga at uh (checks site) 1046 chapters, 23 movies and 965 anime episodes. Phew. It’s a murder mystery story at its core but has a large and lovable cast. The story is simple, 17 year old high school detective, Kudo Shinichi runs afoul some criminals dressed in black. They poison him and instead of dying, he’s transformed back to a 7 year old. Not sure what else to do, he takes a new identity Edogawa Conan and moves in with his best friend/love interest, Mouri Ran at her father’s detective agency. That’s really all you need to know for 95% of the episodes. The plot inches forward very slowly as Shinichi and those he trusts investigate this secret and dangerous Black Organization in order to find a cure. Most of its filler but genuinely good mysteries plus you get to love the whole crew. Its a great story one I’ve enjoyed for over a decade. 

Magic Kaito started earlier than DC in 1987 but was not as popular so he dropped it to start Detective Conan. But the titular character, Kaitou Kid, is a much beloved reoccurring character in DC. Kuroba Kaito is a teen who dreams of being the world’s greatest magician like his deceased father who died during a show. He uncovers a secret room in his house and learns his father was also moonlighting as the infamous magician thief, Kaitou Kid and was murdered by a mysterious organization for unknown reason. Kaito takes up his father’s mantle to catch his killers stealing (and returning) big gems to draw them out. His best friend/love interest, Nakamori Aoko, is the daughter of the chief inspector to catch Kid. Kid’s MO is the same in DC only we don’t “know” his story as he’s draped in mystery but has a delightful rival/friendship/enemies with Conan.  

You don’t really need to read both since DC has its own approach to Kaitou Kid but reading MK gives you a lot of the background/motives of Kid. DC is not as popular here in the US but it’s insanely popular in Japan as a childrens show (it’s movies are consistently #1, move 23 beat Endgame opening weekend which was #1 everywhere else). The tumblr community is rather small but I still hold the fandom has some of the best, most intricate fic I’ve ever read. It really is a great show but I understand its rather daunting to dive into. I made a lost a while ago of all the essential plot/character chapters to read which was significantly less. I’ll link it. The movies are a good place to start or the Magic Kaito manga is pretty short. If all else fails, wiki the big details and dive into that delicious fic! If you do give DCMK a try, let me know cause I don’t often get to talk about what’s one of my most favorite mangas of all time. 

[balancingdiet]

Tabula Rasa

Detective Conan & Magic Kaito Characters: Shinichi/Kaito Words: 2000 ish Chapter: (1) ... (15) (16) (17)

Shinichi always finds his neighbour weird. But he didn’t expect to find his neighbour lying on a patch of grass and donned in Kaitou Kid’s costume, too.

The distance between Beika Street and Kuroba’s old hometown was considerably near, but it wasn’t the case between the latter and their current residence. And the distance only amplified when Shinichi didn’t have his car and had to walk to take the public transport.

But despite how Shinichi had to change a couple of metro lines before he finally reached the station to get off, he didn’t find the journey very long. Perhaps it was because he was lucky enough to get a seat in every cabin he entered, or that he didn’t bother to check the time on his watch or phone…

Or maybe because his mind had been so preoccupied about the scene at the clock tower the entire way home.

Shinichi originally wanted to bring the blue rose for reasons he wasn’t sure. As an evidence? For safe-keeping? But in the end, he didn’t. He only stood in the same spot when he first saw the bench and stared at the rose for a long, long while before deciding to head home. The rose’s presence was already enough to prove his intuitive sense correct, and he found no rights for him to touch the rose, much less remove it from the place it was meant to be.

“It’s a gift for someone.”

Hands in his empty pockets, Shinichi walked out of the station and down the familiar streets. This was also the first time he noticed the large space and distance between each of the street's lamppost, making the residential area darker than the others. Nonetheless, it was again another observation he made when he wasn’t driving in his car, but for the first time, he wasn’t sure what to make do with this random information he had—

Ah... At least now he knew if any of Kuroba’s doves ever went missing, the best time to find it would be during the night; from a distance away, Shinichi could already spot a white dove sitting on his mail box.

“Hey you,” Shinichi called out as he approached.

The dove stared at him.

Shinichi looked over at Kuroba’s house. There were no lights on. “Where’s your owner?” he asked.

It cooed.

Shinichi sighed, not at anything but himself for his idiocy of trying to get an answer from a dove, again.

Deciding an alternative method of communicating, Shinichi unfastened the latch and tentatively took out his mail, and at the last moment, he waved it in front of the dove. But besides looking at Shinichi with its beady eyes, it showed no reaction.

“Since you didn’t steal my mail, I supposed he’s fine? ” Shinichi glanced at Kuroba’s house again. “Or maybe he hasn’t even reached home yet.”

The dove cooed.

“Thanks for the reply,” Shinichi mumbled as he began flipping through the mails. There were bills, bills, another postcard from his mother…

“Hey,” Shinichi said as he stuffed the rest of his uninteresting mails back into the mailbox and leaned a little closer to the dove. “Do you happen to know who this person named Aoko is?”

“…”

“It isn’t hard to know this person is important to Kuroba, but I also have a feeling that she’s…” Shinichi bit his lip, feeling the end of his throat tightened at the thought of the word. He lowered his gaze and stared at his hand—the hand he remembered Kuroba clung so tightly onto during that night he fell.

“I’m so… so sorry.”

Shinichi tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but that pain and tightness didn’t go away; it moved to his chest instead.

The dove cooed.

Shinichi glanced up. “Yes I’m alright—“ He blinked, staring questionably at the dove for a few seconds. “Uh, were you asking me if I’m alright?”

It cooed again.

“I think I’m going crazy.” Shinichi rubbed a thumb between his brows. “Anyway, who exactly are you? Hiro? Curry? Or Tama—”

“It’s Tamago.”

With how fast he turned his head, Shinichi thought he might snap his neck.

“You—” Shinichi backed a few steps away from Kuroba and scowled. “Why did you creep up behind me like that?”

“I didn’t,” Kuroba said as he took a bite out of the chocolate bar in his hand. “Don’t pin the blame on me when you’re a scaredy-cat.”

“I’m not a—” Shinichi shook his head; he had much more important questions on hand than replying Kuroba’s insults. “Since when were you behind me? And how much have you heard?”

“Now I’m curious.” Kuroba tilted his head. “Should I have heard something?”

“No.”

“Huh.” Kuroba glanced between Shinichi and Tamago. “Did you two badmouth about me?”

“If that would satisfy you, then yes, we badmouthed you.”

Kuroba gasped and theatrically placed a hand over his chest. “I thought I’m your best neighbour,” he said, before looking at Tamago. “And I just fed you your favourite sunflower seeds less than half-an-hour ago. Is this how you repay me?”

Half-an-hour ago? Shinichi glanced at the snack in Kuroba’s hand. “Where did you go?”

“I went to get myself some treats.” Kuroba raised his half-eaten chocolate bar before revealing his pocket full of other sweets. “You want one?”

“No.”

Shinichi figured if he continued to pry about how much Kuroba had heard, he would only be digging his own grave throughout the conversation. But it was hard to figure out the answer from Kuroba’s reaction, or rather, from the lack of it. Not to mention when Kuroba's side hobby and talent involved disguising as people on a casual basis too…

Kuroba raised an eyebrow after he finished stuffing his sweets back into his jeans. “Are you okay?”

Shinichi blinked. “Why did you ask?”

“You look constipated.”

“I’m not.”

“If you’re not constipated, then I guess it’s one of the three reasons that make you act like you’re constipated.” Kuroba lifted a finger. “One, you’re upset about the aftermath of a case; but I didn’t see any news about murders today, so I guess not.”

“I—”

“Two.” Kuroba gestured to the mailbox. “Tamago didn’t poop on it. So that’s out.”

“Hasn't pooped sounds better," Shinichi warned. "Since you fed it half an hour ago, it might happen anytime soon.”

Kuroba rolled his eyes, but his face grew serious again as he showed the third finger in the air. “Three.” Kuroba paused. “It is because of Mouri Ran?”

Shinichi stared back in silence.

“So it’s about her.” Kuroba lowered his hand. “Have you gone to find her?”

“Speaking of which.” Shinichi crossed his arms in defiance. “You didn’t tell me that she came.”

“I couldn’t possibly break the promise I made with a fine lady like her, can I?” Kuroba grinned as he took the last bite out of his remaining chocolate bar before crushing the wrapper in his hand. “So, since you know about this, it means you did find her.”

“Yeah.”

The scrunching sound in Kuroba’s hand stopped. He looked perfectly still— almost like a statue.

“Then,” Kuroba began, “did she forgive you?”

Shinichi nodded.

In an instance, Kuroba’s face split into a huge smile, and it was filled with so much relief and bliss that for a moment, Shinichi almost forgotten if it was he or Kuroba that was forgiven by Ran.

“That’s great!” Kuroba said.

Shinichi nodded again.

The excitement in Kuroba’s face died away as fast as it came. He furrowed his brows as he observed Shinichi. ”Shouldn’t you be feeling happy about it? What’s with your reaction?”

“What reaction?”

“Like this.” Kuroba then drooped his eyes and showed a pursed lips.

Shinichi frowned. “I don’t look like that.”

“You need a mirror.”

“No.”

“It’s not a question.” Kuroba whipped out one from his sleeve and showed it to Shinichi’s face. Indeed, Shinichi looked exactly like what Kuroba had mimicked, much to his annoyance.

“I’m fine.” Shinichi pushed the mirror away.

Kuroba scoffed before looking at Tamago, who had been sitting on the mailbox silently all these while. “Looks like somebody is moody.” Kuroba not-so-subtlety pointed at Shinichi.

But Shinichi wasn’t going to react or rebuke to Kuroba’s taunts; there was actually nothing else for him to say, because in truth (and how strange that Kuroba got it right), those three reasons should be the only three reasons that could ever make Shinichi upset, but there was a fourth one—one that Shinichi could never let it be known.

At least not to Kuroba.

Besides how time doesn’t heal all wounds, words can reopen them too.

So how could Shinichi possibly tell Kuroba that he knew everything—about his unconscious apology, the hospital conversation and the blue rose in front of the clock tower—and that he was also upset and frustrated at himself for the lack of his abilities to pull Kuroba out of his sad, sad misery?

He didn't want to be that guy again.

“Um…” Kuroba leaned back and cast Shinichi a side-long glance. “Are you really pissed though?”

Shinichi rubbed a hand down his face, hoping to wipe whatever expression Kuroba was seeing to think of that thought. “I’m not.”

Kuroba nervously hummed, before pulling out a candy from his pocket and gave it to Shinichi. “Maybe this can help?”

Knowing it would do better to accept than reject, Shinichi wordlessly took Kuroba’s offer and popped the sweet into his mouth.

”Feeling better?” Kuroba asked.

Shinichi had to swallow the sweet, to stop a sudden lump that was threatening to rise in his throat again. He looked at Kuroba’s curious and unblinking gaze, and wondered why, even when his own life wasn’t exactly full of sunshine, Kuroba could still be concerned over Shinichi, and even foolishly offering a sweet so it would make him feel better.

More than that, Kuroba even talked to Ran.

And he encouraged Shinichi to talk to Ran too.

“Thanks, Kaito,” Shinichi said.

(And it wasn’t just for the sweets.)

It was as though the world stopped for a second, and then Kaito blinked. “Di-did you just call my name?”

Shinichi smirked; it felt like a privilege to hear Kaito stutter for once. “I did.”

Kaito fished out a handful of sweets from his pocket and laid them out in his open palm. “Are these poisoned? Or are they actually drugs?” he muttered.

“They are nothing but diabetes,” Shinichi said.

Kaito looked at him, askance. “You’re being really weird today. Did Mouri Ran hit your head or something?”

Shinichi ignored him and gestured to the sweets. “You shouldn’t eat these junks at night.” He turned to Tamago. “Try to control your owner if you can.”

Tamago cooed.

Kaito narrowed his eyes at his dove and grudgingly shoved the sweets back into his pocket. “Betrayal.”

“I’m heading in.” Shinichi walked past Kaito and towards his house.

“Are you sure you don’t want to check your head?” Kaito yelled at Shinichi’s back.

“No,” Shinichi answered over his shoulder. “But you should check my mailbox after your dove flies off. I have a feeling it’s going to shit on it soon.”

As if cued, Tamago suddenly stood up, waddling its butt around for a while before departing off to Kaito’s balcony.

Kaito stared at the mailbox. “Oh.”

Just one word was enough to make Shinichi laugh.

“Do you need company?” Shinichi asked, but he didn’t wait for Kaito’s reply as he’d already turned and started walking back to the mailbox.

“Wow, how kind of you,” Kaito muttered. He then pulled a cloth out of one sleeve and a bottle of water from another.

Again, like always, the supposedly simple clean-up that wouldn’t last more than five minutes somehow turned to fifteen and eventually dragged to thirty. And in between, there would be jabs, laughters, and if Shinichi was a little lucky, he would get to know another random, yet surface-level thing about Kaito that day.

Maybe Shinichi didn’t have the power or ability to relieve Kaito’s pain, but maybe he didn’t need to do anything either. All he had to be was simply Kaito’s neighbour, the one whose mailbox got shitted on a lot, the one who needed reminders to water his plants, and the one who would agree to eat fried rice at each other’s house.

And maybe being just like the way they always were was the one and only best thing Kaito could ask ever for.

[yutaya]

what was your first Conan fic?

Oh boy, storytime!

So there is a short answer and a LONG answer to this question. 

The Short Answer:

You didn’t ask this for the whole story, you asked because of what I mentioned in my tags: that the first DCMK fic I ever read had a scene where Conan lays out exactly how easy it would have been, after Kaito’s slip up referencing the great magician Kuroba Toichi while in disguise at the lodge on that one case, to just... look up Kuroba Toichi. With the filters from other things Conan had extrapolated, such as likely age range, combined with the kind of closeness to Toichi indicated by Kid’s bringing him up, it would have taken maybe half a day to narrow down the likely identity of the new Kaitou Kid. Conan knew that was all he had to do. And then... he didn’t. He purposefully never looked there, let it remain a mystery.

UNFORTUNATELY, I remembered wrong. My first DCMK fic, while the gateway to a whole new world for me, is not actually the fic that has this scene. :/

There was a little community of DCMK fics I was reading back in the livejournal days (ManyCasesOneTruth LJ community, whatup!!!) and it was one of those that had that scene, but I’m not sure which one. :( If someone reads this monster and happens to know, please tell me so I can reread it. Haha.

Anyway my first Conan fic was Windfall by Ysabet.

The Long Answer: (AKA how Detective Conan changed my life)

The year was 2004. I had finally started watching the Case Closed dub on Adult Swim - videotaping it because I couldn’t stay up to watch it at 1AM - after half a year of being too afraid because the commercials involved dead bodies and it looked scary.

That summer, my family was on vacation, and there was no way for me to watch the episodes that would be piling up on the VHS back at home. I had briefly ventured onto the ff.net page before, but found so many summaries centered around unfamiliar names that I assumed I had to watch more and meet all these fan favorite characters before I’d be able to make heads or tails of any of it. But - I was at ends, and so I decided to give it another shot. A google search brought me to a site called something like The Red Thread, and a list with winners of some fanfiction awards. Best overall for... whatever year it was - 2003? - was Windfall by Ysabet.

Now, the funny thing about Windfall is: not only does it use all the Japanese names that so confused me back then, not only does it center completely around characters I had not met yet and assume knowledge of events and backstory that I didn’t have - it’s also actually the fourth fic in a series. Not that I was aware of that. Character that isn’t in the canon? I assumed it was yet another canon character that I just hadn’t met yet. Everyone else was. Probably the only name I recognized in that fic was “Conan” and he ended up playing such a small part (though I extrapolated that “Ayumi” was “Amy” pretty easily). But it was so good, and I devoured it anyway.

Only 7 chapters of Windfall were posted on TheRedThread. I finished this fic about Kaito, who I didn’t know, and Aoko, who I didn’t know, and Ayumi, who I had seen trapped in a car trunk with a “severed head” in one CC episode but who I had not at all seen grow a friendship with a thief sheltering on her balcony, and I wanted more.

When I got home, I found the wait for Case Closed episodes to air more agonizing than ever. I took to google again, seeking out more information, and somehow, someway, stumbled through my first ever torrent download. I didn’t even know what I was doing. I didn’t know episodes of television could be available online. I couldn’t believe it when I saw a link titled “episodes 1-10″ and just blindly followed whatever instructions I could to see what it was. Downloading Bittorrent, downloading VLC... Imagine my surprise when I finally opened up the show I was looking for but.. in another language. With subtitles!

It all took off from there. I learned all about how most of the cartoons I liked were actually anime from Japan and that when they were dubbed in English the companies often also changed characters’ names and censored stuff and altered large swathes of dialogue to make things more palatable to American audiences. I learned about manga that I could buy in Waldenbooks and that most of them were flipped but some of them weren’t because the original artwork was meant to be read right to left. I learned about, basically, everything that I had been missing out on from the stories I liked, that had been diluted out of the original versions for my consumption.

I started following a Detective Conan fansubber and downloading their latest episodes as soon as they came out, and learned all about “Shinichi” and “Ran”.

I discovered that Windfall was actually part of an entire Wind series, and had a lot more than 7 chapters besides. Fanfiction was my entire introduction to Kaitou Kid and I used to draw fanart based entirely on descriptions in fic and then was super excited when the preview for the next Detective Conan episode  (76!) included Kaito! Kaito Kuroba, the main character in Windfall, my introduction to this entire world! (And my mental image of him from fanfic was a fair ways off - it was elating to see the actual character. I think I immediately drew like 8 different pictures based on that preview, since I had a reference.)

As I mentioned earlier, there was a very small community of Conan fics I was reading back then - probably about 5 or 6 core authors on a Conan fanworks livejournal community (Many Cases One Truth!) who wrote a number of fics that I recall fondly. There was the psychic detective Heiji series by KosagiNoLegion - I LOVED that one. The Shinichi and Kaito find out they’re actually identical cousins fic (Relative Truth, by Becky Tailweaver).  Ysabet‘s entire Wind series, obviously. The most notable BNF was probably Icka M. Chif, who I always remember was once described to “own 3/4 of the Magic Kaito fandom in fic.” To this day I will idly doodle fanart for Billie Jukes’ The Impossible Murder. I could go on for ages about all the now quite old DCMK fic from back in the livejournal days, but... that would take a lot of writing. Haha.

Anyway, the Detective Conan fandom and its explanations about dub names, etc. is the reason I found out about anime and manga and dubbing and censorship and rewrites and how very different the Digimon movies are from The Digimon Movie, and all about 4chan One Piece vs actual One Piece, and is the reason I now always try to watch foreign films in their original languages with subtitles and basically altered the trajectory of my entire life at 13 years old.

(Well, probably not. Probably I would have discovered all of these things anyway, and sooner rather than later. But I didn’t, and Detective Conan will always get the credit for my life.)