An autistic friend of mine just said this to me “The harder I work at communication the more people expect from me and the less they are willing to compromise.” and it is the most fucking heartbreaking thing I’ve heard.
This is very much a thing, though - and I’m sure people across the board with other disabilities can verify that it happens to them, too.
People will turn any progress you make toward being “normal” - no matter how straining or difficult it is for you, no matter how little it actually helps you - as either inspiration porn, or proof that you don’t really need accommodations, you just need to “apply yourself! :)))))”
“I don’t get it,” says the demon, “This person’s lived a perfectly good and virtuous life. Why are you sending them to hell?” The angel nervously rubs the back of their head. “Honestly? We’re pretty sure they’d be happier in hell than heaven.”
I hate these people so fucking much. Our country is crumbling in literally every way - infrastructure, childcare, schools, healthcare and hospitals, etc and we’re in one of the biggest cost of living increases ever homelessness is increasing and will continue. Covid is still a thing. But no this is what they’re spending our hard earned tax dollars that make up their salary for
It’s funny when American authors come up with a new European nation so their main character can be a secret royal without the pain of researching a real nation. We should all start doing that with North America, just make up a new state. My protagonist lives in New Utahioshington which is the 51st state and located between Delaware and Maryland
It’s not about the pain of researching a real nation. It’s bc if you make up a nation, you can do whatever the heck you want. You can create your own world that still exists in ours, free of the constraints and rules of existing nations and existing historical figures. You don’t have to abide by rules. Would The Princess Diaries be as good if she was the secret princess of Denmark?
Add in that most of these royalty stories have a fairytale vein to them. In the original version of a lot of European fairytales, the kingdoms are just not named. But at the same time it’s clear that Cinderella is not marrying the prince of France. These stories use fake kingdoms as well.
In real life the monarchy is terrible and archaic so fuck if I’m going to make a character part of a real life monarchy. Also, potential libel suits.
I welcome and encourage making fake states (that’s funny), but it does miss the point of why fake monarchy states tend to exist in fiction in the first place, imo. Also as noted in other comments, this was not a trope even invented by American lit.
also make a fake american town. lots of shows make fake little towns with believable names, because multiple states can have a town with the same name and not have it be confusing on account of it being in a different state.
So true! There are endless fake American towns and cities in fiction. Some fake cities are so famous they’ve become a ubiquitous part of American culture (i.e Gotham). I don’t really think making a fake kingdom is any weirder than making a fake city.
also yeah this is very much giving americans credit for an english invention
It is unclear which Tri-State Area Phineas and Ferb live in, but there are so many tri-state areas in the US, you can basically set anything in “the tri state area” and it’ll be ok.
Smallville didn’t make up Kansas, but it did set the huge, coastal city of Metropolis… in Kansas. And yeah, Gotham in real life is another name for New York, but in DC it is a separate city and where the fuck it is, nobody knows. I like to say it’s Baltimore because it’s a port city and also I live here, but frankly I think Gotham’s too white to be Baltimore.
