Fanart: Rodney no Monogatari - The cover of a picture-book

[anna_luna]

This is my entry for The SGA Asian Costume Fanart Challenge Thing. Isn't it embarrassing to miss my own deadline? I hope it is still the 18th in some part of the world...

WARNING: Rodney dressed as an onnagata (male Japanese Kabuki actor who interprets a woman) and slashy implications (Rodney/John and Rodney/Ronon) PG-13.



This is the cover of a popular ancient e-hon (picture book) called Rodney no Monogatari. It tells the story of the onnagata Rodney who became a popular kabuki player because of his precise acting, unusual colored hair and expressive eyes. He was bought from a chinese merchant(who claimed he was the survivor of a ship wreck) at an early age because of his unusual blue eyes and blond hair.

Rodney rose to a prominent role in the theater because of his skill and because Lady Teyla was a great fan of his work. He later acquired Lord Ronon as a patron in exchange for certain bed-room related favors.

The picture book tells of the affair Rodney had with his fellow kabuki player John and how this conflicted with his duty to Lord Ronon and how the other courtiers distrusted him for his unusual appearance and directness.

Unfortunately the only surviving piece is the cover, featuring Rodney and John in kabuki roles, although other pieces of the book might yet be found.



I hope I got the Kanji right (I don't have my kanji dictionary with me right now) and I wrote Rodney in kana according to me, I have no idea what the "official" version of his name in Japanese is.

I used pictures found googling "Kabuki" as reference.

I'm back home from my England vacation. I had a great time at the Pegasus 2 convention (and will post a complete report soon). All the people I met were wonderful, David Hewlett is cuddly and I can't wait to go to another one. Also, England is beautiful and wonderful to visit.

Comments

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is amazing; I'm just enough of a theatre queen to know that MY GOD, this is amazing.

[anna_luna]

:D I was able to go to a kabuki play in Tokyo once and I was fascinated by it, the rotating stage, the magnificent acting and costumes... and the onnagata made me feel clumsy and unfeminine. They are gracious and beautiful and are such masters of their body and gestures.

I'm glad you think my clumsy drawing makes them justice.

Thanks!

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is amazing looking. I LOVE the fan, and the shoes!

[anna_luna]

:D Thank you!

I'm sorry I haven't replied to anything or done any of the things I promised I would do, it's just things were crazy with university before going to England, then I was *in* England living with friends who got their Interenet from work instead of their homes (the horror!) and now I'm home for a week before heading to a conference in Abu Dahbi (I actually think I missed my laptop more than I missed my mum, but I did have a great time).

I'm glad you liked the fan! I'm especially proud of it! And for once I managed to get Rodney's hand to look *right*!

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

I don't think you've missed anything? Oh! You meant the LJ thing. //Waves hand// John's is still not done. I decided to move it to March 15th, because that seemed more fitting. [Steak and Blowjob Day] Plus, I was having writer's block on and off, and blah blah.

Abu Dahbi? I always thought that was made up! I'm glad you had a nice time in England and got to meet DH!

The fan is gorgeous, my old roommate is a huge Japan fan, so I'm going to show this to her tomorrow, she'll love it. ♥

[steammmpunk.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is so AWESOME. And Rodney's katakana made me giggle because it's read Rodoni (I know it's closest one, but it's just so cute. And you got the kanji right. Cool.) I love this! ♥

[anna_luna]

:D I would love to hear Miko or some other Japanese character call him "Rodoni" once. It would be beyond cute! And he's be so embarrassed and John would never let him hear the end of it.

[sinensiss.livejournal.com]

those are really beautiful. I especially love the design of Rodney's panel, the hanging vines and the flowers in his hair.

[anna_luna]

:D I'm glad you like the vines! I tried to make them look like theater props.

And Rodney with flowers in his hair never gets old.

Thanks!

[stereowire.livejournal.com]

No, it's totally still the 18th where I live! For, uh, forty more minutes! XD
Also, aaahhhhh, this is so wonderful. LORD RONON! <3

[anna_luna]

:D Yay for different time-zones!

LORD RONON! <3

How could I resist? While John plays at being a samurai, Ronon's the real thing!

We should feel proud of ourselves, this challenge was a total success!

[sgafan33.livejournal.com]

Wow! This is beautiful! And the story you wrote explaining your "discovery" is really cute.

I love how John is still the warrior and that detail around his eyes. I guess with John's darker hair, there would be fewer comments about his hazel eyes. And look at his geta! How sweet!

Love Rodney's hair. And a lovely pattern on his kimono.

The only thing that strikes me a little odd is that Rodney's mouth seems to be slanted on the wrong side (see Rodney at the top of your LJ). He does have his head tilted, so maybe that's just me.

[anna_luna]

I guess with John's darker hair, there would be fewer comments about his hazel eyes.

Poor John, finally an AU, where *he's* generic and Rodney's exotic!

I'm glad you liked Rodney's kimono, I totally want one just like that for me.

And you're totally right about Rodney's mouth, it slants to his left.

Actually I was just trying to get him to frown/be unhappy a bit, so he'd be more like Rodney and less anyone else (he looked so generic before). As I drew Rodney's head turned slightly to his left(notice the line of his nose and how you see the line of his face to his face while it is covered by his hair on the right side), the frown had to be to his right, if he'd been facing right, I'd have to have made him frown left (so basically it's just aesthetics that his mouth looks that way... hm... I might have to start drawing him facing right, so I can get his mouth properly). But it's awesome that you noticed! (You actually think I'm paying much more attention to detail than I actually am... *blush*)

[taiteilija.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, this is terrific. Seriously, no matter what you draw, it makes me stare in awe and wonder why you are gifted with so much talent.

[anna_luna]

Thank you! *blush*

I mostly just try to have fun drawing stuff and draw a lot to de-stress.

[bluebrocade.livejournal.com]

That's absolutely gorgeous! I love the way you've presented it with it's historical background.

I, uh, hope more pieces of the book are found some day. ;-)

[anna_luna]

I, uh, hope more pieces of the book are found some day. ;-)

You and me both! I might take up this project again some time. I'm just swamped right now and wanted to sort of meet the deadline.

Thank you!

[anna_luna]

You made him an onnagata. I love you so much right now. ♥♥♥

:D I live to serve! And I remember I actually said I'd draw Rodney as a geisha, but when I tried to come up with a storyline for John and Rodney I realized that you had covered most of the bases...

I should still make the story book where Jeannie dies as a child and Rodney's mother(a widow) makes Rodney pretend to be a girl in order to obtain court favor... oh, these plot!monkeys, where do the come from?

I'm so glad the Kanji are right, I thought I had them right, but I started googling "monogatari" and "kanji" and got *other* stuff.

[charlidos.livejournal.com]

That is absolutely gorgeously beautiful. :D

[anna_luna]

:D Thank you! I'm glad you think it looks good.

[lim.livejournal.com]

I love this. Really like wow!

[anna_luna]

:D Thank you. Asian AUs for the win!

[crysothemis.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is great. The costumes are fabulous, and the story behind it made me laugh, especially that the only surviving piece of the book is the cover. Also, I like their hair (Rodney's hairline!), and you got Rodney's mouth just right. Very cool.

[anna_luna]

:D I'm glad you think the costumes work!

Also, I like their hair (Rodney's hairline!)

:D He looked so generic before! But with the hairline and the mouth, suddenly he became Rodney!

Thank you!

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! I showed it to my Future of Fandom, and she thinks there should be "another line" (??) in the "ee" in Rod-o-nee's name, because it's such a long ee. Or something, I'm just passing on the message.

[anna_luna]

Oh! Interesting! Because of my spanish background(where we don't have short vowel sounds) I never realized. But I think you're right. If I ever revisit this AU, I'll get it properly. Thank you very much for the input!

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Lovely! I really like the backstory to the art.

[anna_luna]

:D I'm glad you like it! I would love to *read* a picture book like that... I'll guess I'll just have to *make* it? Huh?

Thanks!

[arlessiar.livejournal.com]

Ah, I simply like your fanart! You're a master of details!

I so wish we could have met at P2. I guess I saw you at some point during the weekend, but simply didn't know it was you then. :(

[anna_luna]

:D Thank you!

I wish we could have met too! I was wearing this conspicuous T-shirt with a fanart of John on it thinking "What would McKay do?" Some people actually recognized me by it!

And every time I found an LJ person, I ran my list of people I had fanart for by them. I'll try to post the colored versions of the drawings later today or when I get back from Abu Dahbi next week, so you can at least have a virtual copy.

[sally_maria]

I love the picture, it's just beautiful. I know very little about Japanese culture but you've managed to make Rodney look both like himself and extremely pretty.

I'm glad to hear you had a good time at Pegasus and in England generally. I'm sorry I didn't get to do much more than fangirl you for my lovely picture - which has been generally admired.

[anna_luna]

:D Thank you! It was great meeting you! (and that icon of yours... that's showing off to make the fellow fans jealous :D)

I'll post the colored version of the pictures later today or next week when I get back fro Abu Dahbi (Me, I travel *so much*, but I love it!).

[cannone.livejournal.com]

Ooh, so lovely! And the details! I don't know if this was intentional, but I really like the fact that you did this on heavier paper; the subtle texture really makes it feel like a page out of a book. :D John's makeup is adorable and the drape of the fabric and the flowers on Rodney's kimono came out wonderfully. Beautifully done (as always :D). *gushes*

And you totally win for the onnagata/kabuki story. It would be amazing if you revisited this AU sometime. ♥

[anna_luna]

I really like the fact that you did this on heavier paper

*blush* Actually... there was no paper involved at all in the making of this... I used my drawing tablet and added a Photoshop filter to get the texture... It was *supposed* to look like heavier paper so I extremely glad you think it works! :D

I'm glad you liked the kimono! I *want* that kimono! And I hope I find time to revisit the AU, I *so* want to draw more of the E-Hon.

[severusslave.livejournal.com]

Rodoni, awwwww, how precious.

[anna_luna]

:D Thank you! I'm glad you like it! He's "Rodoni" in my head now...

And your icon made me laugh!

[severusslave.livejournal.com]

Heee, yeah, well, it's true, so...

[liresius.livejournal.com]

yeah I think your kanji is right for monogatari!

Also like the Atlantis shaped sakura/*insert petal name of choice*

With Rodney I'd also have made your call on the katakana. The J'ese might put a long vertical (In this case) stroke after "ni" to lengthen it, but perhaps others would tend not to.

With my own hanko/inkan, I got my name rendered phonetically as close as I could to how I pronounced it but my J employers disputed it! LOL! They have a much loved pattern of adherence here, but they are also flexible when it comes down to it.

Still ... yep, Rodoni is good.

But that's by the by ... I love what you've done. Very lovely ...

[anna_luna]

:D

Also like the Atlantis shaped sakura/*insert petal name of choice*

It is *supposed* to be sakura... only, when drawing flowers, my drawing skills desert me.

My japanese teacher wrote me the katakana for my name phonetically when I first started learning the languageand when I went to Japan, my friends there got me two kanjis that together sound like "Anna" and mean "apricot leaf".

[mercurydraconix.livejournal.com]

oh, wow. you are made of win. this is really, really gorgeous.

[anna_luna]

:D Thank you! I couldn't pass up the chance to draw these.

[wicked-socks.livejournal.com]

This is gorgeous (John's eyepaint and Rodney's distainful look and kimono ♥ )and I really love your little story for it! I would love to hear more about their torrid behind the scenes affair. :D

[anna_luna]

:D John in eye paint is a thing of beauty (and a personal favorite of mine)! I do have a little story about them in my head, and I *want* to draw Lord Ronon and Lady Teyla, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Thank you!