Gridley

While enormously populous and powerful in its heyday, Gridley eventually became unstable due to the perverse predilections of its political leaders and general population. The national religion of Gridley essentially constituted worship of the female form, principally the buttocks. Homosexuality amongst women was strongly socially encouraged, which was incompatible with the institutionalized heterosexuality amongst men. While women of Gridley were able to find suitable partners, Gridley men often emigrated at a fairly young age. The main industry of Gridley was explicit, hardcore pornography, which gained the ire of other nations worldwide. The combination of resultant harsh economic sanctions, negligible birth rate and high net emigration led to the collapse of Gridley both economically and politically. A cataclysmic political restructuring resulted in the disintegration of Gridley as a nation state.

Although some regions became territories of neighboring nations within the Fade to Black region, the cultural and ethnic influence of Gridley has been minimal. However, female sex workers in the region are still universally referred to as "Gridleys" or "Gridleyans", to the extent that this is no longer considered a colloquialism in Fade to Black dialects.

Gridleyan nationalists and those of Gridley origin who prefer to maintain their Gridleyan identity are often seen wearing t-shirts bearing the slogan "I'm with the monkey." The origins of this slogan are uncertain. Linguists have suggested that there is a common root in an archaic Gridleyan dialect between the words for "monkey" and "mystic", thus drawing a link to the nation's famous motto, "Where Mystics of All Faiths Gather to Contemplate Ass."