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I read Unbreakable by Mira Grant (@seananmcguire) and was fascinated by the little magical girl mascot creatures. So morally conflicted! I would read a story from their perspective, see how they interact with each other when the humans aren't around. Maybe see a new one being taught the ropes.

I doodled some from the book and then designed some of my own.

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Read this book recently. Like Pacific Rim, it's fascinating seeing a genre that people mostly associate with anime interpreted by someone from outside Japan (but who, most importantly, gets what the appeal of the genre is). I won't spoil it for anyone following me, but I thought it was an entertaining read, and wouldn't mind seeing more magical girl-inspired books in the future. (I say this as if a majority of fairy tales aren't already precursors to what we know as magical girls to begin with...)

(Although the main characters of Unbreakable prefer the term "magical protectors," as not all of them are girls, after all--there's mention of magical boys elsewhere, and one of the protagonists' teammates was nonbinary.)

Unbreakable by Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) is a book about magical protectors and cosmic horrors.

If you like the magical girl genre you will love this book.

If you liked Madoka you will love this book. But also, if you didn't, you will love this book.

If you want a more nuanced and dark take on the magical girl genre (while still keeping the sparks and rainbows) that doesn't introduce mature and gritty themes just for the sake of subverting expectations, because it was written by someone that understands how to embrace and successfully marry the magical girl genre and the cosmic horror genre, while at the same time packaging it all with a realistic portrayal of how our world would react to/deal with magical protectors, you will love this book. And if you have already read this book please come talk to me about it.

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I was also specifically thinking of horror geared towards kids when talking to my co-worker. Things like Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Coraline have a lot of horror elements, but they still end fairly positive for the child protagonists. (Then there's Goosebumps, which revels in the cruel twists.)

It also brings to mind Don Bluth (I think?) saying something like "As long as it has a happy ending, kids can handle whatever happens in the middle."

Based on a discussion I had with a co-worker...

Personally, I was of the opinion that it didn't need to.

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Do Grimm fans exist in the year 2023. Do they live. Or do I just have to make obscure fanart and aus and comics all by myself

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Lonely Vigils: Collected Occult Mysteries From the Pupls by Manly Wade Wellman, illustrated by George Evans, Shadowridge Press, 2020. Cver art by George Evans, info: shadowridgepress.com.

Back in print for the first time since 1981, Shadowridge Press presents Lonely Vigils, Carcosa’s legendary collection of Manly Wade Wellman’s famous occult detectives from the Golden Age of the Pulps. Featuring Judge Pursuivant, Professor Enderby, and John Thunstone, their battles against dark magic were originally chronicled in the pages of Weird Tales and Strange Stories between 1938 and 1951. While the stories have achieved legendary status among aficionadosof weird fantasy, they had been virtually unreprinted until Lonely Vigils. Here are twenty tales of occult investigation by an acknowledged master of fantasy literature, dramatically illustrated by George Evans. Before he moved to the South, Wellman began his writing career in New York City, where he drew upon the dark side of New York’s night club intelligentsia and the native mysteries of the Northeast to create a convincing blend of authentic magic and imaginative peril in these stories of three intrepid crusaders against supernatural evil. Read their complete original pulp adventures in Lonely Vigils!

Contents: Foreword   Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant “The Hairy Ones Shall Dance” “The Black Drama” “The Dreadful Rabbits” “The Half-Haunted”   Professor Nathan Enderby “Vigil”   John Thunstone “The Third Cry to Legba” “The Golden Goblins” “Hoofs” “Letters of Cold Fire” “John Thunstone’s Inheritance” “Sorcery from Thule” “The Dead Man’s Hand” “Throne on the Threshold” “The Shonokins” “Blood From a Stone” “The Dai Sword” “Twice Cursed” “Shonokin Town” “The Leonardo Rondache” “The Last Grave of Lill Warran”

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La Belle Dame sans Merci

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Sometimes I feel like something gets lost in translation when the English subtitles for Pan's Labyrinth refer to the fairy kingdom as the "underworld" (or the "Underground Realm," in the opening narration).

In one of the pages of Guillermo del Toro's notebooks featured in his book Cabinet of Curiosities, there's a note made by del Toro about beings called the "Mouros," said to live in underground cities. Del Toro goes on to note that in Galicia (where Pan's Labyrinth is meant to be set), it is believed that the mountains are hollow and contain underground realms and cities. So this is clearly what del Toro used as inspiration for the backstory involving the missing princess.

It's also interesting how the motion comics included in the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the film refer to the fairy kingdom as "Bethmoora," a place mentioned in Lord Dunsany's works (and, also, the name del Toro gave to the kingdom of the elves in Hellboy 2).

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You know, I love Manly Wade Wellman's John The Balladeer stories and I really appreciate Valancourt books getting them back in print but I've got to have a slight chuckle at the cover art they went with for their release, which suggests less the tone of the stories and more "folk infused heavy metal album." Now granted, I haven't read all of the Balladeer stories, so maybe there is one where he fights Purgatori from CHAOS! Comics. Art by Ilan Sheady

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Based on a discussion I had with a co-worker...

Personally, I was of the opinion that it didn't need to.

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Little Goody Two Shoes Coming in October 31st 🎃

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The new anime series "Akuma Kun" is scheduled to premiere globally this Fall 2023 on Netflix (Studio: Encourage Films)

Synopsis: This new series is set in a world 30 years after the 1989 TV anime series. Ichiro Umoregi, a boy genius who was raised by demons, investigates cases caused by demons alongside his partner, Mephisto the 3rd

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Tannhäuser in the Venusberg by Jacques Clément Wagrez

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wagnerians be like “i know a spot” and then take you down to nibelheim, accompanied the entire time by the rhythmic clanging of 18 anvils

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THE NUN II (2023) dir. Michael Chaves

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THE NUN II (2023) dir. Michael Chaves

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Vampire Princess Miyu (TV)-- Animage Magazine (12/1997). Illustrated by Megumi Kadonosono.