"Max was distantly aware that they were only barely hidden by the stage curtain and the darkness; that there was a crowd of a thousand people out there and an entire stage crew in here, and their bandmates who were probably looking for them.
But it was so hard to care about any of it, when Rei let him press forward between his thighs, had brought one of his big hands up to cup Max’s jaw and gave a low gentle moan back into his mouth. Max wanted him so badly. He had never met anyone who could claim his heart so completely. One of his dearest friends, Rei was strong and warm and beautiful; from the strength of the thigh wrapped around him to the delicate way he plucked at the strings; the masculine taste of his sweat at the corner of his mouth and the sweet orange blossom smell of his hair. It felt spoiled and decadent, but Max wanted him."
Full fic on AO3
I've had this in my drafts for so long! My AO3 draft was about to get deleted I had delayed so long. I've eventually decided to just get them posted and stop reworking them!
A little collection of WIPs since I'm off to visit family next week!
-Max's Version of the Holy Beast portraits. I plan to finish this one and then do Takao's.
-Band AU- Kyouju as Sound Tech/Songwriter, Hiromi as Band Manager. Its still at the colour test stage, making sure I like the composition. I have a couple of pieces finished for the Band AU that I'm planning to post when I'm back if I'm happy with them!
-Cuddles with Kai! On the cuddly friendship piece I did before, people mentioned there was no Kai, so here he is reluctantly allowing hugs. I might draw a little comic for this one when I'm back, I've never done a comic before! I envy any artist that can just sketch the characters straight out, I swear if takes me a million different attempts at their faces to get them right.
Daitenji knows that other people will think he poached Rei Kon from the other record company, and on paper that is what it looked like, he can’t deny it. Rei had left his first band to sign with BBA Records out of the blue, had even moved country to do so under Daitenji’s guidance. Other people would say that was poaching.
What Daitenji knew other people hadn’t seen, was that underneath his musical skills Rei was a young man on the verge of cracking, like a marble under someone’s shoe.
They hadn’t seen him pleading with his management in dressing rooms, resisting intrusive photographers and flinching when he was pushed towards his female bandmate. They hadn’t seen the furrow in his brow when he was placed centre stage or the tension in his frame when speaking with his guitarist afterwards. They hadn’t discovered him hiding in the top row of a music hall, head in hands, taking a moment to breathe.
They certainly had never received a call from him in the middle of the night, trying to keep his voice steady through obvious tears.
“If you still need a bassist, sir, I’d like to take you up on your offer.”
Headcanons under the cut!
Rei leaves Baihuzu after having a huge argument about their management. Their new contract would boost the band’s circumstances but it’s restrictive, messes with the dynamics of the band by compelling Rei to be the lead instead of Rai and takes an inappropriate amount of interest in a relationship between Rei and Mao, which Rei was already feeling pressured into. Rei refuses to sign it.
This erupts into a highly charged argument. Rai and Mao misunderstand what the problem is and both berate him. Rai is angry that he’s endangering the band’s position, by not being willing to sacrifice and do what’s necessary for Baihuzu’s survival (with a healthy dose of ‘I would have if I were you’). Mao is also angry with him for being hesitant and unsettled about their relationship, when clearly everything should be full steam ahead if management are giving their approval. Rei gets overwhelmed in the confrontation with them so nothing gets settled and everyone goes to bed angry.
He flees in the middle of the night, refusing to be forced into something he doesn’t want. He sneaks out of the hotel to call Producer Daitenji for help from a telephone box, having been given his contact after one of their shows. Baihuzu wake the next morning to find him gone, having taken nothing but his bass Byakko, his passport and worse, the songs he’d been writing.
Rai is immediately furious. Leaving them without a bassist and songwriter leaves the band high and dry, so he takes over Rei’s role as well as playing the lead guitar. Its a lot of pressure all at once, added into the feeling of being second-best and picking up the pieces of what he thinks Rei should have been grateful for. Kiki starts practicing to fill in so they can at least play their regular songs, but he’s younger and not at Rei’s level yet so everyone finds this a bit frustrating. Gaou has to intervene in many an argument.
Mao is also furious, but occasionally anxiety surfaces instead. When Rai notices, she plays it off as being anxious about the band but really she’s anxious that their oldest friend took off with only the clothes on his back and vanished off the face of the earth. They had been close, close enough to be in a budding relationship before, though she worries now that the enthusiasm she had shown for the couple’s photoshoots and dates was not as reciprocated as she’d thought. She remembered him on that last evening, angry or maybe scared, saying there was too much pressure, that he felt he couldn’t say no. She replays the argument in her head more often than she cares to admit, and sometimes fears that they’re as at fault for chasing him out as much as he is for leaving.
They hear nothing from him for a year. Then there’s buzz on the musical circuit about a new band taking part in this year’s music festival, The BladeBreakers, their EP is playing on the radio everywhere you go. They play Rock music so this is irrelevant to Baihuzu until they hear that the bassist is handsome with long dark hair. And a white tiger on his bass guitar.
More Band AU! Though I guess this could be Rei running away from home in any universe if you ignore the guitar case. Poor Rei gets put under way too much pressure and cracks, burns his life down to its lowest and has to build new.
I like making Rei and Baihuzu's storyline as emotionally complicated as possible. Everyone is sad and angry, right and wrong. You can love your family and still want a completely different life to them.
I have the outline for this AU all the way through to the end of the first tournament, and I've been writing snippets though I'm not sure I'd be able to write it entirely? I like to write fanfiction to go with my art, so I'll probably just build it up that way. This AU is fun because I get to pick the music to go with all the story beats!
I haven't fully decided what type of band each team is. Team BBA is Rock because that's my favourite, Baihuzu are Folk/Classic Rock? Team Euro would have to use some classical instruments and they aren't originally a team so it makes sense for them to be soloists? Team USA are Pop/Rock, with a big production company behind them to emulate the scientists in canon?
Three handsome boys! I think I have finally perfected their designs on this piece! They all look how I imagine them.
Mid-Drawing Headcanons under the cut!
Kai already owned this suit so they used the spare money to buy Hiromi's glittery dress. (They all have a mild panic about women's sizes since they're trying to surprise her. Mao advises Rei that they can steal borrow something she owns to measure it. Max is the one that succeeds at this.)
Kai also helped Max find his suit since he didn't want him to look too ridiculous even in purple pinstripes. Its hard for everyone to think him just a baby-faced cutie when he's playing the charmer in a well fitting suit though! He even charms Rei into a couple of dances.
Hiromi thought she'd have to convince Rei into his costume, but he was completely unfazed. He actually feels like he got the better deal, he doesn't have to overheat in a suit like Kai and Max. (He can admire how handsome they both look though.) This does backfire slightly; turns out Rei Kon in tight fitting black silk is pretty sexy, he spends most of the night blushing.
Kyouju found Rei's dagger necklace online! He re-wears it and the skirt afterwards since it was comfortable.
Close up One! Takao is such a smiley guy in all my pictures, I need to draw him with his battle face eventually.
Mid-Drawing Headcanons under the cut!
The coat Kyouju is wearing for his costume is actually Kai's! Kai has several leather coats, this one was suitably oversized on Kyouju.
I was imagining Hiromi's dress as glittery rather than Wednesday's cotton dress since they're going to a party. She found it while planning the team's costume but it was a little expensive, and they needed to make sure they could get all six costumes. The guys surprised her with it when they were getting ready.
This evolved out of my control! It was just meant to be the 3 of them riding home from school in their uniforms, but then I got the idea of adding Seiryu flying along with them and then I needed a background to incorporate him into.
I think I've figured out Seiryu's design though? I really need to do a rewatch and take screenshots every time the Holy Spirits are on screen, I can never find references for them when I need them!
Also the reference I used for the background listed this as Tokyo, I got it from Unsplash like most of my references.
Hiromi gets an instant camera for her birthday and takes lots of photographs whenever they're all hanging out. This one was gifted to someone by her and its a bit tattered from being in their wallet, I never fully decided who though I'm leaning towards it being Kai. I've not really got a full grasp on Kai in my art yet, but my head-canons always have the base of 'he loves these idiots, but would never say it aloud'. Also Takao claims he's Kai's favourite, Kai says that its Rei, Rei calls him a liar because its actually Max.
Max and Rei initially try keep it a secret that they're seeing each other, partially because if it goes badly it won't be an issue with anyone but them, but also because they're unsure how their friends will take it. Takao finds out immediately. Like, within the first month. They never figure out how he figured them out, he just laughs and refuses to tell them. They were waiting for him outside the dojo because he's overslept and he caught them kissing. Whoops. On the plus side, he's absolutely delighted. (Takao likes his found family to be happy and together. If his two friends fall in love with each other, they're not likely to disappear to their hometowns, right?)
Smiles are hard to draw! But I think this turned out pretty well.
Renaissance -> French for Rebirth -> Born again -> Phoenix -> Suzaku
Kai is the second in my Sacred Spirits set! This went really well, but oh my god the feathers took so long. I'm so tired! The plan is definitely to do each of the main 4 so I'm over halfway there, Max's portrait from Day 1 just needs Genbu painting in.
"Well, its just that getting down is scarier than climbing up..."
"Staying here, then?"
The missing scene after the end of Ep 12! Rei teases but he's not going to leave his new BFFs to struggle, he'll coach them down. The White Tiger arc of Season 1 is still my favourite, followed by the Europe arc where they're traveling around making nuisances of themselves.
Now that I made it to the end of May I feel like I should actually introduce myself and respond to everyone's lovely comments!
My name is Danie! I'm not new to Tumblr (I've been here since 2015! Which is a crazy thought.) but I'm not that practiced in posting my art and being social, I tend to be a little shy and just lurk. They keep changing how to talk to people here so I'm trying to figure out how to do it.
Offline I'm actually a professional artist that usually works with traditional medium but last year I had to go on hiatus due to medical issues that zapped me of all my creative energy. After recovery I was encouraged to get back into making art by doing what made me start art in the first place, so I've been revisting the shows I loved as a child and drawing for them! This time digitally rather than in the edges of my homework.
Thank you to the MayBlade blog for running this, participating has been a lot of fun. This is the last one within the month of May but I'm going to keep working on the prompts because I'm enjoying myself! I managed 17 pieces of art which I feel pretty good about.
Something a little sillier for today! Takao and Hiromi realising they have the same crush, on their resident grumpy punk boy.
I was imagining this happening at the most inconvenient time possible, like walking home with the rest of the group, they're wondering where Kai has disappeared to and it just gets blurted out by accident. Not pictured: Kyouju facepalming off-screen while Max and Rei try and hide their laughter. Kai is elsewhere, with no idea how much trouble he's causing.
I used a reference for Kai's thirst trap, but I can't remember for the life of me where its from? I think it was an actor in a magazine, Seongji Yuk?
I was still thinking of the previous day so I went with underwater! I think I would add some fish to this scene if I worked on it again, but otherwise came out very pretty!
I was thinking of the scene in Atlantis the Lost Empire, where Milo and Kida go swimming, the whole time I was painting this so I guess that's the vibe I was going for.
I went with a local Celtic fairytale- Max is a selkie! I read a lot of Celtic mythology and fairytales; so the stories of selkies, witches and sidhe were always my favourites. I'm about to start the Mabinogion which is the compilation of Welsh legendary tales!
Little ficlet under the cut!
"He'd thought he would drown. He'd clearly bitten off more than he could chew, faced a storm that was too strong for him, out in the bay alone. Maybe the storms at sea were of a different kind than the ones the Great Tiger commanded, controlled by a different spirit that couldn't hear his call.
Rei was sure he would drown.
But then he was being pulled upwards, towards air, by something insistent; a strong grip on the back of his tunic. His saviour moved through the water with impossible ease, propelling them towards land while keeping them safe from the rocks and waves.
When Rei turned, still coughing and gasping for air, and partly blinded by the seawater, the creature he saw was a seal. Big dark eyes and long whiskers, it nudged him up onto a rock to relative safety. He scrambled upwards, hands slipping on the rocks and seaweed as he climbed, and the seal followed, shielding him from the worst of the spray. Odd behaviour for a seal, but he wasn't about to complain.
Then, suddenly, the seal's face shifted, tilting back to reveal a human face from underneath; with golden hair and freckles to match the dappling on his seal fur. The creature flipped his wet hair away from sky blue eyes and grinned with a mouth full of sharp teeth as Rei gaped at him wide eyed.
"You're safe now, don't worry. I've got you."
Some half formed ideas while drawing this-
Max is a half selkie, half sidhe. Taro is his selkie parent, Judy is a Queen of the Sidhe. He can take the form of either, but not permanently, so he bounces between their courts. He sees Rei using his magic in the forest one day and true to both his natures decides that this one is his.
Rei is a witch/magic user who left the coven that raised him to be independent. He has good ability in most types of magic so is depended upon for favours and assistance in the local village. He only recently settled here so hadn't run into the group yet.
Takao is a wind spirit (?)that brought the storm, almost drowning Rei unintentionally. Rei had warded off one of his storms previously so Takao was trying harder this time (tying into the first time Rei and Takao meet where Takao defeats him). He's friends with everyone in the area so he tends not to cause too much trouble, but sometimes his excitement gets away from him.
Kyouju is a type of oracle? Can see the future somewhat so is very knowledgeable and can figure out what will happen but it also makes him a fairly nervous person. I don't have any concrete ideas for Hiromi or Kai?
'Gonna steal your thunder,
Coming up from under,
I got your number, I'M THE UNDERDOG!
Gonna stand your ground,
Turn your head around,
I'm gonna shake you down coz I'M THE UNDERDOG!'
-UNDERDOG by MUDD (Beyblade Soundtrack)
I listened to the dub soundtrack so many times while making this, Swing Low is still my favourite song! Headcanons under the cut! Also zoom in for details!
Takao- Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals- After learning to play the guitar from his Grandfather on an old acoustic, Takao wins his first electric guitar in a competition sponsored by the local music shop. There he befriends the shop owner's son Max and beats a local music legend Kai, catching the attention of Producer Daitenji who is putting together a new band 'The Bladebreakers'. The best in the band at connecting with the crowd since he's a natural entertainer, very loud and sincere.
Rei- Bass Guitar, Lead/Back-up Vocals- The only one that had been in a band previously, he has lots of experience managing tempers between bandmates. He was in a folk band originally with his childhood friends, when they were picked up by a small record label. Due to his popularity with fans, management pressures him into being the lead of the band instead of Rai, as well as pushing for a 'relationship' with Mao as a PR stunt. Rei meets Producer Daitenji backstage at a gig and agrees to join The Bladebreakers to get out of resigning his restrictive contract. He doesn't expect how attached to his new bandmates he will get, or how angry his old bandmates will be. Has a great singing voice, but tends to step back from being the lead because talking to the crowd makes him flustered.
Max- Drums, Piano, Vocals?- Growing up taking piano lessons, Max is classically trained and very talented. He changes course abruptly in his teens when he starts listening to rock music and practicing with the drums to his music teacher mother's dismay. His father owns the local music shop, so he's very involved with the music scene and experiments with lots of different instruments. A steady influence in the band, he's a good negotiator between Takao and Kai in their daily arguments. He doesn't sing live because that's hard to do with drummers, but has sung on recordings and while songwriting. (and maybe once while playing piano for a certain bassist.)
Kai- Rhythmic guitar/Lead guitar- Refused to sign with his Grandfather's production company, after experiencing abuse from the management there, so they try to blacklist him. Daitenji convinces him to join the band after he loses a local competition to Takao. Trained to be a soloist, Kai takes a while to adjust to working with the rest of the group. He and Takao disagree on who is the lead guitarist basically every song until they learn to compromise. Has a great singing voice, but refuses to sing for the longest time until he's built up some trust.
This took me. SO. LONG. I had to take a break to do grown-up stuff for a few days anyway, but I think this took 4 days to finish? Most of that was Max's drumkit honestly. Also this took so many references!!
Are they researching Sacred Spirits? Kai pretends to be inconvenienced but they all know better, he wants to know more about them more than anyone. Its also his job to make sure that Rei and Hiromi eventually leave the library, none of the team trust them to do that themselves after last time.
I finally figured out the design for Hiromi's hair! She looks so fluffy here, she needs a big messy fringe. I really enjoyed making this one, I got way too into drawing all the books!
