Why "I Hate Fairyland"?

Perhaps you are not familiar with Skottie Young's creator-owned work, "I Hate Fairyland".

I Hate Fairyland - #1

The story is about Gertrude, a small girl who wishes to visit Fairyland, a wonderland full of everything magical, majestic, cuddly, and wuddly. And, much to her misfortune, she gets that wish. What starts as a dream come true becomes a neverending nightmare as Gertrude is unable to leave. Cue her languishing in Fairyland for over 20 years. Mentally she matures, but physically she is still the same little girl. As she grows to hate Fairyland so does Fairyland grow to hate her.

So why would I choose this story? Well, why wouldn't I choose a story where a small girl goes around destroying a magical kingdom for personal pleasure and profit?

"I Hate Fairyland" takes a lot of wonderful childhood story tropes and subverts our expectations. We expect to see these stories rehashed and told over and over again. But there is another option. You can take that story, you can blow it up, resurrect it, shop its head off, feed it to alligators, and laugh maniacally as you prance away to wreak more havoc on the annoying little tidbits that seemed to haunt every childhood story.

For this week, take some element of a childhood story and make it silly, unexpected, ludicrous, and maybe just a little dark. A pegasus that's really a cow who likes to cosplay. Shoe elves with perverse fetishes. Cherubs that are just as likely to get you high on Molly as make you fall in love. An adventurer so sick of answering riddles they lose their mind.

Or, if that doesn't sound all that appealing, do something creative with the cast of "I Hate Fairyland". You got a surly adult woman trapped in child-like body, a fairytale queen high on power, a conscience who'd rather be doing anything else, and an endless cast of fairytale riffraff to tear apart.

Have fun.