DungeonMaster
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2016
She's truly a great artist and worldbuilder but I think she's ahead of her time. A boomer weeaboo who derives inspiration from both golden age sci-fi, underground comix, and modern anime/manga, capturing the emphasis on mood it puts when most western artists at that time just went "lol big eyes" when emulating it. Now we've got an entire generation who learned to draw from anime and styles subsequently derived from it, and it's so commonplace that overtly, authentically western styles are now considered exotic and unique, if the success of Cuphead is any indication. She's another example of those few artists who synthesized eastern and western conventions in such a way that they truly worked together, like in Elfquest. Before furry culture was known and mocked by the mainstream she took on a very unconventional fursona.
She had great potential, seeing how she devoted herself so much to worldbuilding before there was even a word for it, but tragically she tossed it all away in favour of misanthropic MLP fics. And let's not forget her lack of self-awareness and ignorance of internet culture, like the boomer she is. I find it befuddling that someone of her intelligence would be surprised by the abundance of man-children on a website dedicated to fanfictions of a TV show intended for little girls.
The sheer amount of cool stuff she left behind her over the decades, never to be seen, is staggering. As one who enjoys trawling through the buried dreams of internet 1.0, made by imaginative young people who've long since abandoned their email addresses and associated projects, I can only feel the deepest melancholy when scrolling through her lore, knowing that JDR, who actively lurks on Deviantart, will never return to what she's best at again. There are times when I wish I could meet her in person and come to a compromise; any compromise, that might lead to her setting books and sundry creations seeing the light of day, and maybe even get published, like some kind of late 20th-century Silmarillion. To think that almost twenty years ago she had a respectable number of fans - now I can find nowhere discussing her works, not even on 4chan or reddit. The fact that most of their forums are lost to the mists of time exacerbates this fact.
But then again, I suspect she might have schizophrenia, given how she wrote Unicorn Jelly from the seat of her pants. From her biographical comics I suppose she came from a heavily religious background. And considering the lingering traumas that American evangelism left in the minds of many a 21st-century artist, it manifests in its most blatant form as the Church of Godan in Pastel Defender Heliotrope. For as much thought as she puts into other aspects of her imagination she has nothing but contempt for religion, from which she likely turned to fiction for refuge. When it comes to religion I suppose I can liken her to the Euphoric Atheists of reddit, but then again, given she lacks knowledge of internet culture, she will probably endorse them without question.
So what can I say about JDR? She is a genius and a moron at the same time. When you look at her decision-making skills and the way she interacts with people, you'll see a buffoon. But when you see the sheer elaboration and ambition of her work, you'll see a master artist. If her skills, especially her financial and social skills, were a tiny bit better, I can only imagine how far she might have gone. As an artist I envy her creativity and vision, even if most of them may not have been conscious, but her actions serve as a cautionary tale for me. To always keep your foot on reality, or else you will lose awareness of the person you are becoming.
She had great potential, seeing how she devoted herself so much to worldbuilding before there was even a word for it, but tragically she tossed it all away in favour of misanthropic MLP fics. And let's not forget her lack of self-awareness and ignorance of internet culture, like the boomer she is. I find it befuddling that someone of her intelligence would be surprised by the abundance of man-children on a website dedicated to fanfictions of a TV show intended for little girls.
The sheer amount of cool stuff she left behind her over the decades, never to be seen, is staggering. As one who enjoys trawling through the buried dreams of internet 1.0, made by imaginative young people who've long since abandoned their email addresses and associated projects, I can only feel the deepest melancholy when scrolling through her lore, knowing that JDR, who actively lurks on Deviantart, will never return to what she's best at again. There are times when I wish I could meet her in person and come to a compromise; any compromise, that might lead to her setting books and sundry creations seeing the light of day, and maybe even get published, like some kind of late 20th-century Silmarillion. To think that almost twenty years ago she had a respectable number of fans - now I can find nowhere discussing her works, not even on 4chan or reddit. The fact that most of their forums are lost to the mists of time exacerbates this fact.
But then again, I suspect she might have schizophrenia, given how she wrote Unicorn Jelly from the seat of her pants. From her biographical comics I suppose she came from a heavily religious background. And considering the lingering traumas that American evangelism left in the minds of many a 21st-century artist, it manifests in its most blatant form as the Church of Godan in Pastel Defender Heliotrope. For as much thought as she puts into other aspects of her imagination she has nothing but contempt for religion, from which she likely turned to fiction for refuge. When it comes to religion I suppose I can liken her to the Euphoric Atheists of reddit, but then again, given she lacks knowledge of internet culture, she will probably endorse them without question.
So what can I say about JDR? She is a genius and a moron at the same time. When you look at her decision-making skills and the way she interacts with people, you'll see a buffoon. But when you see the sheer elaboration and ambition of her work, you'll see a master artist. If her skills, especially her financial and social skills, were a tiny bit better, I can only imagine how far she might have gone. As an artist I envy her creativity and vision, even if most of them may not have been conscious, but her actions serve as a cautionary tale for me. To always keep your foot on reality, or else you will lose awareness of the person you are becoming.
