Doodle^2

A secret nerd with a lot of cinema trivia (she watched a lot of older movies with her dad). Gamera is her favorite Kaiju. 

Keeps track of show reboots like Kamen Yaiba out of nostalgia

Has a collection of cicada husks that she makes crafts with (Ran freaked out when Kazuha showed it off with her boxes of ribbons and jewelry). 

Better at finding rhino beetles and frogs than Heiji, because she’s more patient. 

Both Kazuha and Heiji are superstitious, but Kazuha is more open about it. 

She will not hesitate to confront Heiji in the men’s bathroom if there’s something serious to discuss. They’ve had to do a lot of stuff together when they were handcuffed, so it’s not something she’s shy about. 

Good at memorizing things quickly (God I wish that she was a detective duo with Heiji. It would’ve been cool if Kazuha was good at recognizing patterns/remembering investigation details, as a complement to her Karuta skills). 

A light sleeper. Sometimes she wants to tag along Heiji to visit Tokyo, and that means getting up early or at unusual times for the train. Jet lag doesn’t affect her very much, thankfully. 

Went through a “not like the other girls” phase after a bad experience in middle school. She’s grown since then, but she’ll still suspect other women of taking advantage of people close to her (like that time she accused Ran of being “Kudo”). Part of the reason she likes Heiji a lot is his straightforward personality (Uhhhh aside from him hiding the Conan thing, plus his weird approach to confessing in canon. But those are the exceptions). 

Secretly enjoys dark romance, because extreme promises like “forever” are comforting, even if there’s blood and death usually accompanying it. (Of course, Heiji is nothing like those brooding dark figures. He’s like a dog that gets distracted by a new smell and a strange face. He barks a little loud inside the house and runs out in the middle of the night. Still, he always, always returns. It’s why Kazuha’s more used to Heiji running off and getting carried away with deductions — because she knows that in the end, he’ll come back for her. Haha compare this to Ran feeling anxious with her flighty boyfriend who only appears as a voice in the darkness nowadays.) 

A childhood memory: Heiji and Kazuha are walking around one day, and come across a bridge. The view is nice from above, and Kazuha leans over the railing to get a better look. Heiji does the same, but the sheer height takes the breath away from him, and a thought creeps up. 

What if I jump?

But he wouldn’t do that. He would die. He doesn’t want to die. The thought doesn’t stop, though. It buries itself deeper, and turns into something worse — what if he doesn’t jump, and his father dies? No, he’ll definitely die — horrifically in a car crash maybe, and it’ll be Heiji’s fault. Because he was too cowardly. 

The thought follows him home and into class the next day. He can’t concentrate. It annoys how something so irrational looms over like a real threat. He prides his problem-solving skills, and can only imagine the disgust the detectives from his stories would have for him. 

Technically, he could survive the fall. There was water below, and people have dived from higher places. The fear is still strong though, and he off-handedly tells Kazuha about the plan with the hope that she’d stop him. Kazuha takes it seriously however, even as he tries playing it off as a stupid dare. 

When he finally does jump, he breaks both his legs and his father slaps him. Kazuha had confessed what Heiji told her and his parents thought he was going acting reckless just to show off. Most of the aftermath is blocked off in his mind, but he remembers how hate had bubbled in his chest as his father yelled at him. (“I did it for you.” “I did it for you.” “I did it for you.” )

An AU where Kogoro has to defeat the BO instead because Shinichi is now just a kid a with amnesia and high observational skills (haha good luck old man). This Conan is more reserved and reluctant to see gore and crime scenes because his head trauma was one of his last few memories. I want to give some focus on the adults and their perspectives in this story, just so they can take on a more protective role for their kids (cause man you gotta understand that letting a bunch of teens run around crime scenes is gonna traumatize them).

Let the parents be a bit more competent/proactive. 

I also want to touch on some parallels between Kogoro and Shinichi, because the former (like Shinichi) used to believe anything could be brought to justice with enough effort, but fell into a cycle of self-doubt and disillusionment, in addition to other life problems like divorce/alcoholism. 

I think Eri should have a spotlight too. She’s a lawyer and a woman living in a society that allows rapists and corrupt politicians to get away with a light punishment. She herself was almost stripped down and tased by kidnappers who wanted to humiliate her for arresting them. She is that bridge between catching the criminal and actually bringing justice to the victim. She should get more interactions with Shinichi and get to discuss ethics, especially since Shinichi values all life despite the crime. 

Let there be some domesticity. Let Kogoro see that past Shinichi’s fame and arrogant persona, he’s ultimately a thoughtful kid who cares about strangers getting a fair judgement. Sure, Kogoro’s seen Shinichi grow up before, but a lot of those memories were overshadowed by annoyance and jealousy, and he didn't notice the child-like traits. Now that he gets to see 7-yr-old Shinichi again, he sees how the latter doesn’t casually talk about murders anymore and seems so much more vulnerable. Yet, it’s still the same Shinichi, and Kogoro gets to see this softer side. 

[(I’ll add more stuff for bonding between the other parents and characters later - Heizo, Ginzo, Ran, etc.) 

The premise is Araide keeps getting closer to Ran and is making advances, so Shinichi is afraid that Ran is going to move on from him soon.

On his way home one day, he receives a one wish willow from a cultist. Though skeptical, he holds on to it as sentimental gift for Ran, hoping to pass it off with a winding explanation about the willow being a symbol of resilience and beauty (trying to convey that he appreciates Ran waiting for him for so long, and hopes she’ll continue to do so). 

After excusing himself from another friend outing later that week, he gets a text message from Sonoko that Ran had invited Araide. She assures him that they didn’t kiss/confess, and Ran just wanted an extra person to enjoy the carnival games with, because Sonoko was going to spend most of the night browsing the artist gallery for KID merch instead. Still, Shinichi is frustrated that he’s stuck as a child and can’t spend time with Ran as himself. Telling her his secret is not an option for him. He doesn’t want to confess over text/phone either, since he wants to say it face-to-face/appear for the first date at least. (Haha in this AU, he doesn’t meet Haibara or Heiji unfortunately, so he’s never gotten a temporary antidote). 

His old high school life is crumbling, and so are his chances with Ran. Reflecting on how bizarre and hopeless his situation is, he impulsively breaks the willow and wishes for Ran to love him no matter what happens. 

The problem is that the ambiguity in his wish causes Ran to love “him” as Conan, not Shinichi. Ran already suspects that Conan is Shinichi, so her forced love for this persona of Conan uhhhh complicates things. 

The rest of the week goes on like normal, but he notices that some of his belongings have gone missing, like his tranquilizer watch. He tries bringing it up a couple times over breakfast, but it causes Ran to uncharacteristically snap at him. He’s afraid that Ran knows about his gadgets, but doesn’t push it any further. 

Over time, Ran’s behavior becomes more unusual. She gifts him things that aren’t appropriate for a 7-year-old (adult-sized tie, men’s perfume, etc.), and gets upset when he plays too roughly with the detective boys or talks with other girls (who are also kids bdw) for too long. The people around her are starting to notice too. The detective boys hang out less and less often with Conan because of it. Sonoko thinks that Shinichi might have something to do with this change, and bombards him with questions that he’s not sure how to answer either. All he knows is that this isn’t the real Ran anymore.

Ran’s attention on him has intensified and it’s scaring him, because the possessiveness is shifting into mild child abuse when he’s at the Mouri’s house. He can’t reach out to his friends, because how would he explain both shrinking and somehow getting cursed? He’s also a kid, and privacy is even scarcer now that Ran is monitoring him. 

Conan tries calling the phone number listed on the old packaging, but all he gets is an ominous reply that he got exactly what he wanted.

Later, he tries asking Agasa for help by getting another willow, but the professor can’t trace the phone number to an address/person. The number doesn’t exist anymore, and he can’t undo the wish for Conan. 

__________________________________________________

[BONUS: There was a loophole though. At some point, the real Ran takes control and begs him to reveal himself as Shinichi, but he becomes defensive and denies his identity once more. This was his last chance at correcting the wish, by confirming that “he” is Shinichi, not Conan. Instead, he’s cornered himself, so ultimately his true identity dies and Ran is forced to love who she thinks is really a child. 

To be fair, he might’ve thought that Ran’s weird behavior started because he made a few slip-ups on his secret before and the similarities were frustrating her. Maybe he thought denying it firmly once more would end this. I’m still going with this route though, because I think there should be horrifying consequences for Shinichi pushing people away and keeping secrets from them.

Please note that I do not think Shinichi is like Bear at all. He truly loves Ran. I think that the wish works to create worst possible outcome, so this is my take on it. Also please note that Ran wouldn't actually romantically pursue kids. That's just the wish's doing.

As for the cult, I was thinking it could be a branch (haha pun) of the unnamed MK organization (MKO). The weeping willow is a symbol for spirits and passing, but the MKO corrupts that meaning by pursuing immortality. The bright red packaging and “weeping” descriptors could also be references to Pandora shedding tears. 

Why are the cultists offering wishes to random children wishes? Hmm.. I was thinking it could be a method of recruiting future MKO members. I guess the catch is that the wish only works positively if you’re “innocent”/a child who can be molded into someone else’s ideals (MKO). Only, that didn’t work for Shinichi because he’s obviously not a real child. 

Heiji is wrongly institutionalized after Kazuha notices how he keeps calling Conan “Kudo”, and reports his odd behavior. His family thinks that there might be something wrong with him, and that he's projecting Shinichi onto Conan to try and live out his one-sided rivalry/friendship with the next closest person. There's also the fact that he's keeps disappearing with Conan randomly at the crime scene, which is potential child endangerment in their view. 

Once he’s taken away, the situation is made worse bc it turns out the BO has marked Heiji as a target, since he seems to think Kudo's alive. They're now monitoring him in an isolated environment, and the feeling of betrayal is compounded with an added strain on his relationship with Shinichi. Shinichi doesn't know the real reasons for his friend's institutionalization, and thinks that Heiji may really have issues that compromise his deductive abilities + ability to hide Conan's secret.

Of course, now that Heiji's taken away, Conan has less mobility. With a new curfew and child restrictions, he can’t continue investigating the BO as effectively, even as the latter is quickly tracking him down.

This is part of a larger story I want to write — an “Everything goes wrong” AU where the characters are taken by the BO one by one, as everyone’s relationships start to sour over the ensuing mistrust and paranoia. 

All credits go to @loveabledotte for the BO AU! You can read the full backstory for the AU on their blog. I wanted to draw some of the OC family members based on this post.

Some tiger drawings I made a few weeks back! (Sorry for the mass posting -- I'm going through some old works and wanted to share).

This one was on my mind because the hojakdo (tiger-magpie Korean folk painting) I've seen in my childhood left a strong impression on me and made me a bit scared of wild animals. Though I understood that the style was meant to be playful/mocking, it actually unsettled me more with its exaggerated features. Why are you smiling like that? Why are your eyes blown out and overly bright?

Gosho’s way of writing women makes it so characters like Kazuha and Ran are often in need of saving, so the male MCs get a chance to shine. I’m fine with this to an extent, disregarding the fact that Ran can dodge bullets and punch through metal, and Kazuha can fight well on her own. This kind of sidelining is just to be expected in shonen manga.

I’m more annoyed that he also makes the girls equally scared of everything, whether it be bugs, ghosts, etc. Like come on, none of those things are pleasant, but I think some of them would have a higher tolerance for dark/creepy things, considering their exposure to it while growing up. 

Personally, I head canon that Kazuha has a higher tolerance for dead bodies/true crime/bugs, while Ran is less afraid of the dark/ghosts/walking alone.

Kazuha knows that nothing is permanent. Even though her dad doesn’t like discussing work over dinner, there are times when the forehead wrinkles seem more prominent and his whole face droops from the weight of the crimes he’d had to witness that day. She registers at an early age that death is a constant that exists everywhere, and finds it more sad than frightening. The existence of the supernatural both comforts and disturbs her, because it means there’s something beyond death than a vacuum of nothingness. On the other hand, it makes her superstitious of evil spirits whisking people away without a trace, because there’s still that fear of the unknown. Also, I think she spent a lot of her childhood catching frogs/dragonflies, so she’s not easily creeped out by those kinds of things. (All that being said, she’ll still freak out over a random dead body, but she’s definitely desensitized to gore/violence/gross-out in media). 

As for Ran, since her dad became kind of a bum after the divorce (sorry Kogoro), she’s had to shoulder a lot of responsibilities at a young age. She’s used to walking home late at night after karate, then having to take care of her dad. The darkness is just another phase of the day that will pass, and she’s too occupied with other things (ex. Cooking, academics, maybe making sure her dad doesn’t die of alcohol poisoning) to worry about ghosts. News of murder scares her, even if it’s not in her proximity. I’ll attribute it to her dad’s line of work putting her family in frequent danger, so she instinctively feels threatened even if she’s not involved. 

I drew some birds I think would suit some of the detco characters. (Not all of them yet, but I'm open to suggestions too!)

Brown-eared bulbul (AKA Hiyodori) - They have a strong sense of territory and cry very loudly, which could drive away other birds or annoy people. They remind me of Heiji & Kazuha mainly bc of their loudness haha (the screeching is endearing). They’re constantly bickering with each other, so to an outsider it may sound like they’re fighting/being obnoxious, but they just communicate very enthusiastically, and they’re otherwise quite nice. Bonus bc hiyodori are omnivores and contribute to pollination — I’ll connect that to being resourceful/helpful. They also eat camellias/cherry blossoms, and their crest puffs up like a crown, so I think they look quite cute in photos. (I made the feathers a bit dark but I'll fix that later).

Sparrow - My immediate thought was Kazuha again, bc the way they hop around remind me of her cheerful personality. They’re also considered bringers of good fortune, which I think Kazuha definitely is, bc her omamori helped save Shinichi once. 

Magpie - Fits Shinichi bc of notable intelligence. It can make tools, work in teams, imitate human speech, and recognize itself in a mirror. (The last two parts I thought were similar to Conan’s voice changer + Shinichi still being able to hold on to his identity despite someone else reflecting in the mirror). Magpies also belongs to the same family as crows, which I love bc more parallels between Shinichi and the BO + Renya hehehehe. They will also peck at people’s eyes if they feel threatened, which I think fits Conan being a general menace to criminals. 

BO members as crows - I was stuck on this, bc it seems like the BO uses crows & ravens kind of interchangeably, but I think crows may be more appropriate for the lower-level members. Crows tend to gang up on larger birds in mobs, harassing and dive-bombing them, which could fit the BO’s tendency to meddle with all parts of society/gang up on vulnerable people. They’re highly opportunistic as well. 

You can be more specific than “this sentence/paragraph sounds clunky.” This is like a teacher writing “?” next to an error instead of elaborating, and it’s not very helpful to the recipient. You can say other things, like the following:

“You seem to have a run-on sentence. Use commas and conjunctions to fix it.” 

“Although this sentence is grammatically correct, it’s very information-heavy. You might want to split it up into one or more sentences for better readability.” 

“You switch between people/scenes without any action cues.” 

“All your sentences are very short. While this could be a stylistic choice and give the character a stoic and matter-of-fact internal voice, it does not seem intentional in this case. Try varying your sentence lengths, and save the shorter sentences for more dramatic scenes.” 

“Use parallel structure to create an even rhythm.” 

"You bring up multiple topics near the end, without resolving some of them or explaining how they're relevant to everything else you wrote."