Driveboy

Just your everyday, run-of-the-mill blog. This will probably just be personal musings, mechs, writing and anything cool that the internet throws at me

[kanyeneki-deactivated20151124]

Visit Original Link

please listen to this

[peacocksocks]

no

[regalregex-deactivated20250128]

I AM IN TEARS

[gh0stvirgo]

I haven’t laughed that hard for that long in like a year

[houseofsid]

[vinesnow]

girls will do anything to get in they man’s phone - more vines

[vinesnow]

how to get a friend to quit smoking - more vines

[beautiful40k]

The skyline of a beautiful and thriving Imperial city. Or at least thriving. Or it’s there. Okay, it’s not actively tearing itself upside down at the moment and we should appreciate that.

[tomjogi]

[mechagayzilla]

1920 - Secret Facility by Jakub Rozalski

[alloftheprompts]

Prompt Set #517

It could be pleasant.

Please stop complaining.

You convinced him.

I need 50 more.

It went on for about a year.

They made a map.

I pronounce you…

It requires blood.

I love the way you look.

It shouldn’t talk.

[howtodropoutofschool]

4 Legal Ways To Get Free Textbooks.

1. Open Culture:  Not a large a selection, but high quality texts. If you just want to skim a book to brush up on a course you took in ninth grade, download one of these. I have yet to be disappointed.

2. Book Boon: Provides free college-level textbooks in a PDF format. Probably the widest range of subjects on the web. The site is also pretty.

3. Flat World Knowledge: The worlds largest publisher of free and open college textbooks. Humanitie texts are particularly difficult to come by, this site has a great selection in all disciplines.

4. Textbook Revolution:  Some of the books are PDF files, others are viewable online as e-books, or some are simply web sites containing course or multimedia content.

5. Library Pirate: I’ve always had an addiction to torrent based pirating. When this site opened a few months ago, I went a little overboard. After dropping two hundred on a paperback spanish textbook, I downloaded the ebook version illegally. I also got a great Psyc text i’m obsessed with.  It will be interesting to see how this site grows- they already have a great selection. 

[political-linguaphile]

College bookstores completely rip off their students, so ALWAYS reblog free textbooks! 

[solarcitrus]

You just go for it!  Take it at your own pace and try your best to not be impatient with yourself!  Your level and speed of growth might be faster/slower than someone else’s, so focus on your own path and let the journey take you to amazing places and opportunities!  There’s obvs going to be obstacles in the way of what you want to do, but the greater the accomplishment requires even greater challenges, though the real question is if you’re willing to take the plunge and try anyways?

[rnoonpie]

Colleen you’re such a wonderful person. ;-;

[mainmanblackdynamite-deactivate]

Actually the Vikings had dreadlocks so black people didn't invent the hair style

Vikings had dirty matted ass hair because ancient Europeans were a filthy people who would shit in their drinking water and wonder why they got sick

[carlottagiudicellivevo]

You’re both wrong.

Vikings bathed like all the damn time. It was one of the reasons for a long time you had people from the rest of Europe seeing them as untrustworthy weirdos. They carried combs on their belts because they put a lot of stock in having orderly and often elaborately braided hair. Sometimes they’d pack the braids with mud to hold them in place in battles (which their opponents, like the COMPLETELY non-bathing Romans) would mistake for dreads, but in peaceful situations they’d immediately clean it out again.

The Vikings didn’t have dreads, but they were also a pretty clean group of people until they were forcibly assimilated into the rest of medieval Europe.

[ladygreyfist]

Thank you for laying down some history truth!

[ghostyfelix]

Vikings bathed once a week, and that made all of Europe think that they were stuck-up prudes. They also thought they were nuts for *gasp* WEARING AND WASHING UNDERWEAR.

[wickedlittlecritta]

The vikings bathed so much they were accused of trying to seduce woman solely based on how clean they were:

It is reported in the chronicle attributed to John of Wallingford that the Danes, thanks to their habit of combing their hair every day, of bathing every Saturday and regularly changing their clothes, were able to undermine the virtue of married women and even seduce the daughters of nobles to be their mistresses.

[givemeunicorns]

This cracks me up so bad. Like THESE HEATHENS ARE TRYING TO RUIN VIRTOUS WOMEN WITH THEIR CLEANLINESS!

[rpmaniac]

The Nordic words for Saturday literally translate as “bathing day” or “pool day”.

[literarycastaway]

Writing Advice: Writing Addicting Villains

Everyone has a villain that they love even though they know that person is utterly insane or mislead. From Loki to Scar, to Yzma and Gaston, we love to hate these characters. But what makes a villain interesting? Why are there some villains, like Loki, that we cheer for?

It’s easy to set up a paper villain. They’re the villains who have one goal and lack any character development throughout the novel. Examples of such villains would be Sauron (in the Lord of the Rings NOT the Silmarillion), Grendel from Beowulf, Scar, and Iago from Othello. What makes these characters flat? They all generally have a single goal in mind, usually without any other explanation beyond ‘I want power because ‘X’ reason that wasn’t previously explored, but will be mentioned briefly’. Before the Silmarillion, not much is known about Sauron. He is an invisible foe that goes bump in the night and sends his minions out to hunt for Frodo throughout his journey to destroy Sauron’s ring. In the Lord of the Rings, he has no motive beyond wanting to dominate the world and to get his ring back. As Gandalf said, “He is seeking [the ring], all his thought is bent on it”. Every good fantasy or fiction needs a villain. That’s why it’s so easy to fall into the trap of making a standard paper cut out villain who lacks motive or even defined backstory. The only reason we fear Sauron in the Lord of the Rings is because the other characters fear him. We follow their lead because we trust their opinion on the matter. Who in their right mind would argue with Gandalf after all (trick question, lots of people do)?

This doesn’t always make a compelling villain though. We don’t root for Sauron. We don’t care much about his goals. There is no dilemma in our moral compass, wondering if the hero is really who we want to win.

That’s why you want a dynamic, addicting villain. They’re not just there. They’re a person who has goals, dreams, and hopes; a person who has lost or yearned for something. In their mind, they’re the hero. They’re the ones who’ve been slighted.

My favorite example of this sort of character is Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Right from the beginning we know that he’s a manipulative little shit, but there is still an innocence about him. He loves his family. He is simply a trickster (sure, he let in the frost giants to ruin Thor’s day, but who’s counting a small prank like that?). What happens when Loki finds out about his past? He breaks. His character transforms. Loki discovers that he’s been lied to his whole life and realizes that this is why he’s been treated the way he has. So what now? He thinks, ‘well father loves Thor, what does Thor do? Thor kills frost giants. I don’t like frost giants, they abandoned me as baby apparently. Let’s trick them, set myself up as the hero, then kill them’. This logic sets Loki in a downward spiral. He wants the throne, he wants to prove he’s worthy. He’s seen the worst of Thor, the Thor we saw briefly at the start of the movie.

“And if I do, then what? I love Thor more dearly than any of you, but you know what he is. He’s arrogant, he’s reckless, he’s dangerous! You saw how he was today. Is that what Asgard needs from its King?” –Loki, Thor

In his mind, he’s the hero and Thor is the villain. He fights with words whereas others whom we consider to be ‘heroes’ fight with swords. Loki sees both options as just as worthy in his mind. 

“I could have done it father! For you! For all of us!” –Loki, Thor “I never wanted the throne, I only ever wanted to be your equal!” –Loki, Thor

These two quotes set him up as a drastically different character from other usurpers that we’ve seen. Scar from Lion King wanted only power (again, based purely on the first movie and not external sources, which set him up as sympathetic and give him an actual backstory). Loki however wanted to show that he was as capable as Thor, the ideal warrior, the perfect son (except for his arrogance).

We know that Loki is bad. We know that his moral compass is wrong. His lack of care for life and constant lies prove that. However, because they set him up as someone who was hurt, who had hopes and feelings, we partially rooted for him. We felt bad when we saw him on the rainbow bridge ready to fall to his doom. We wanted him to be saved.

Don’t create a villain just to have opposition.

A villain has to have their own thoughts and complex story. To have a compelling villain, you have to be sure to give him/her/them just as much attention as your heroes because in another story, they’re the hero. Make them the reflection of your hero. Make them the complete opposite. Make them some guy on the street who decided it was time for a change of pace. Figure out their favorite food. Find out what their guilty pleasure is. Make them human.

Villains aren’t just paper cut outs. They’re characters too. You can’t have a her without the contrast of a villain.

[driveboy]

I don’t know where the quote comes from, but I can trace it back to an early episode of Writing excuses: “Villains are the heroes of their own story.” The best villains, the ones with depth, are most often the ones who believe they’re doing the right thing, but are misguided and stray off the straight and narrow, even if they can’t see it themselves. In the fantasy genre, it’s common for the main antagonist to share similar attributes to the protagonist; they show a darker reflection of the hero, what they might have become in other circumstances. Villains are a fantastic source of contrast for the hero, especially when they’re well-rounded.

[old-japanese-men]

[aloebara]

Don’t tell me this is real.

[twinkabuse-deactivated20160621]

it actually is. as someone who dedicated his entire life to making family oriented films for many generations of children filled with magic, love, fantasy, and innocence. of course he’s disgusted with how otaku culture has heavily influenced most, if not all anime.

[bukopan]

YES MIYAZAKI GO OFFFFFF

[rakubell-deactivated20180711]

THIS.

[alliaofrph]

WRITING HELP/CHARACTER

writing a bitchy character (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)

writing a cocky character (1,2,3,4)

writing a emotion character (1,2)

How to play a hippie

Playing the quiet character.

Portraying the shopaholic.

Portraying a mute character.

Portraying a kleptomaniac.

How to play the stalker.

Writing distant, indifferent characters.

How to write a character who stutters.

Writing a character who is sassy.

A guide to playing a southern character.

Portraying characters with crushes.

How to portray a teen mom.

How to play a character who is mean.

How to portray a character high on cocaine.

Writing a character who is high on amphetamines.

Playing an efficient male character.

Portraying the asshole.

Playing a character who suffers from shyness.

How to play a mentally ill/insane character.

Writing a character who self-harms.

Writing a happy character.

Writing a character who suffers from night terrors.

Writing a character with paranoid personality disorder.

How to play a victim of rape.

How to RP a blind character.

Writing a leader.

Writing a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Writing a character with depression.

Writing a character who is homosexual.

Writing a character with schizophrenia.

Playing a fe/male character.

Writing a character with Nymphomania.

How to write a worry wart.

How to write a character with HPD.

How to write a bad ass character.

Playing a pansexual.

Tips on writing a drug addict.

Tips on writing the pregnant female.

Writing insane characters.

Playing a character under the influence of marijuana.

Portraying a character with diabetes.

How to play a prankster.

Playing a character who has been adopted.

Portraying a vampire.

Playing a character with an eating disorder.

Portraying a character who is anti-social.

Portraying a character who is depressed.

How to portray someone with dyslexia.

How to portray a character with bipolar disorder.

Portraying a character with severe depression.

How to play a serial killer.

Writing a tomboy.

Playing a pyromaniac.

How to write a mute character.

How to write a character with an OCD.

How to play a stoner.

How to write an asexual character.

How to play a bitchy/vicious character.

How to play a character with HPD.

Playing a pregnant woman.

Playing the burn-out.

Writing a “nice” character.

How to play a gentleman.

How to play a shy/introvert character.

How to play a naive character.

Playing characters with memory loss.

How to write a character who smokes.

How to write pirates.

How to write characters with PTSD.

How to play a character who isn’t ready for sex.

How to play the geek.

Playing the manipulative character.

Portraying a character with borderline personality disorder.

Playing a character with Orthorexia Nervosa.

Writing a character who lost someone important.

Playing the bullies.

Portraying the drug dealer.

Playing a rebellious character.

How to portray a sociopath.

How to play a swimmer.

Portraying a ballerina.

Playing a promiscuous male.

Playing a character with cancer.

How to portray a bubbly character.

How to portray a power driven character.

How to portray the shy character.

Playing a character under the influence of drugs.

Playing a character who struggles with Bulimia.

Portraying a hippie.

Portraying sexually/emotionally abused characters.

Playing a character with asthma.

Portraying characters who have secrets.

Portraying a recovering alcoholic.

Portraying a sex addict.

How to play someone creepy.

Portraying a foreigner.

Portraying an emotionally detatched character.

How to play a character with social anxiety.

Portraying a character who is high.

How to play a strong, female character.

Writing a character with a hangover.

Playing angry characters.

Playing a character who is smarter than you.

Playing and writing autistic characters.

Portraying a trans character.

How to portray a dominant character.

Playing a character who is faking a disorder.

Playing a prisoner.

Playing the opposite sex.

Portraying a character who has PTSD.

Playing a character who stutters.

Portraying characters with Aspergers Syndrome.

How to play a depressed character who selfharms.

Portraying the “dumb” character.

How to portray a lesbian.

How to play a blind character.

How to play a sexual assault victim.

Writing a compulsive gambler.

Writing a closeted character.

Playing a werewolf.

Writing a character with an addiction to sex.

Writing a character who is drunk.

Portraying a character who is British.

Playing a Brit.

Portraying a character with amnesia.

Playing heroes.

Portraying a witty character.

How to play an INTJ.

How to play a vampire.

How to play a character who is manipulative.

Portraying the natural born leader.

Portraying the character who is flirtatious.

Writing a nice character.

How to portray a character who has asthma.

Playing a character with ADHD.

Writing characters with anxiety.

Amnesia

Children

A Death Scene

Loosing Someone (2)

Old Persons

Physical Injuries (2, 3)

Sexual Abuse (2)

Fight Scenes (2, 3, 4)

Horror

Torture

How to Describe the Body Shape of Female Characters

Character Apperance Help

Words to Describe Voice

Body Language Cheat Sheet

Character Development Exercises

101 Character Development Questions

Art of Character Development

Introducing Characters

Characters You Need to Reinvent

Making Characters Likeable

Heros and Villains

Describing Clothing

Understanding Body Language

100 Positive Traits

Mental Illness in Writing

Conflicts and Characters

JOBS/HOBBIES

Actors

Ballet Dancer (2)

Christianity

Foreigners

Gamblers

Hinduism

Hitmen

Satanism

Smokers

Stoners

Taoism

Journalists

Vegetarians

LOCATIONS

Australia

Boston

California (2, 3)

England/Britain (2, 3, 4, 5)

New York

Prison

London

The South (2)

GENDERS

Females (2)

Males (2)

Transgender People

NAMES

Female Names (2, 3, 4, 5)

Male Names (2, 3, 4, 5) 

Last Names  (2, 3, 4)

QUOTES

Song Lyrics Masterlist

Songs for Biographies

Favorite Quotes: TV and Movies

Favorite Quotes: Notable Authors

Favorite Quotes: Celebrities

Favorite Quotes: Popular Books (2)

Quotes From Songs

Character Quotes

Masterlist of Bio Lyrics

Masterlist of Bio Quotes

Masterlist of Song Lyrics

Biography Lyrics

A Masterlist of Quotes

+130 Quotes

SMUT

Smut Guide: Casual Sex

Smut Guide: For Beginners

How to: Write a First Time Sex Scene Romantically

How to: Smut - The Bare Bones

How to: Smut (For Virgins)

How to: Write Lesbian Smut

How to: Write Smut (2, 3)

How to: Write a Blowjob/Prepping for Smut

Smut Guides of Tumblr

Tips on Writing Sex Scenes

A Guide to Language in Smut

Domination and Submission

Making Love

A Smut Guide

KISSES

How to: Write a Kiss (2)

Different Types of Kisses

Writing Out the First Kiss

GRAMMAR

Placement of Speech Tags

Grammar and Spelling

Grammar Slammer!

American vs. British Grammar

HyperGrammar

Grammar Girl

Punctuating Dialogue

How to Use the Semicolon

Introduction to the Basic Rules of Punctuation

Comma 101

All About Dialouge

11 Grammar Tips

Comma Usage

Correct Use of Apostrophe

Proofreading

Transition Words

40+ Tips to Improve your Grammar and Punctuation

Better Writing: Grammar & Spelling

Semicolons and Colons

Underlining and Italicizing

Dashes and Parentheses

Hyphens

Apostrophes

The Ellipsis

List of 1000+ Adjectives

ART

painting tutorial

colour palette (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

drawing clothe folding

avoiding drawing the same face

draw ice

anatomy help

free drawing program (1) (2)

sai brushes (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

draw hair

drawing ref

dont know what to draw?

draw 3D room tut

drawing eyes

lip tutorial

how to draw jeans

how to draw arms

expression tutorial

drawing hair and fur

drawing cats

pose reference blog [its actually a blog full of references i-]

download photoshop

paint blood

color blender

draw hands

hands 2

photoshop help (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

remove backgrounds from images online

clouds

brush setting ref (SAI)

kissing ref 

how to draw curls

realistic woman body ref

draw knees

draw feet

shadow help

male body

lips ref

contouring and highlighting

draw wings

change images using blur (PS)

gray

hat ref

glowing stuff

pastel colors

draw grass

eyeliner ref

Painting tutorial

Female/male arms

Kneeling + Sitting ref

Dragon head view tutorial

SAI brushes 86786

Drawing expressions

Sai Brushes 1

NGE colour palette 1

100+ colour palletes

Avoiding same face

Face contours/highlighting

free art MyPaint

Body anatomy help 1

How to shift images using blur in PS

Drawing clothe folding

How to draw ice

Colour palette 1

Colour palette 2

SAI brush settings 2

SAI/PS pixel brushes

Warm/Cool gray

Flower crown tutorial

Skin colour palette

Pink colour sheet

How to draw butts&thighs

The male torso

Drawing glowing stuff in SAI

Drawing horse/animal legs on humans

Drawing clouds

Muscular male with bow stock photos

Pastel colours

Drawing grass fields in SAI

Expressions&Legs

All about the human body

20+ colour palettes 

Colour conversion

Kissing ref

Creature design 

Colour meanings

Creating expression

Tutorial masterpost (100+)

Lineart

Canine

How to colour

Pose studies

Feline comparisons

How to draw penis

Leaf pressing

100+ anatomy references 

How to draw folds

SAI brushes 3

Sitting poses

Colour palette 4

Cloud painting

How to draw 3D rooms

Colour info

Colouring ref

Hair tutorial

Clothing ref

Bodies and poses

SAI brushes 5

Colour scheme designer

Folding ref

Heads&Angles 

Paint tool SAI masterpost

Drawing ref masterpost (10+)

Hair+Fur

How to draw faces

SAI brushes 4

Anatomy of mutant humans

What should I draw?

Free art software

pastel colour ref

Mass art ref

Soft SAI brushes

ways to draw stuff

SAI brush settings

baseball cap ref

Penis ref

Drawing human wings

Cool free art software

Huge art ref

Colour blender

2 SAI brushes

Photoshop for free 

MAKEUP

eyeliner

how to apply blush

how to draw eyebrows

ombre eyeliner

lipstick trick

the kitty eye ^.^

nude lips

smokey eye make up

what you need to know about beauty

5 of the best foundations

best powder foundations

quick foundation tip

how to apply liquid foundation

breaking it down

makeup highlights tutorial

blush for your skin tone

how to apply bronzer

how to contour your face

apply blush like a pro

blush according to your face shape

d.i.y. gel liner

get the perfect winged liner

get winged liner using tape

awesome eyeliner tricks

9 different eyeliner looks

different eyeliner styles

guide to applying eyeshadow

suit your eyeshadow to your eyes

glittery smoky eye

get the perfect smoky eye

a shade for every occasion

kool-aid lip stain

best lipsticks for blondes

hot red lips

how to get gradient lips

lipstick shades for fall

how to make any lipstick look matte

get soft kissable lips

long lasting makeup tricks

victoria’s secret model tips

saving face

beginner’s guide

when will it expire?

10 makeup tips from mac

best tips from professionals

18 beauty essentials

basics you should own

make-up brush tutorial

brush tricks

clean your makeup brushes

make-up brush guide

make up hacks

easy make up tips

BODY CARE

the runaway to gorgeous skin

winter dryness

acne foundation routine

wash your face correctly

how to wash your face 101

HAIR

messy bun tutorial

different ways to braid

three-braid updo

waterfall braid

how to fishtail

romantic curls

braid + bun updo

how to do pastel hair

8 ways to wear a bow

4-strand braid

braided bun

braided headband

dutch braid crown

pin curls!

how to contour

everyday makeup routine

lipstick using crayons

eyeliner ref wow

filling in eyebrows

banana facial mask (moisturizes)

strawberry facial mask (acne prone skin)

avocado facial mask (dry skin)

yogurt facial mask (sensitive skin)

list of oils to add to your face masks

already made masterpost :*

OTHER

sleep calculator

survive nature

rain

tumblr music

calming rain

need a hug?

like the sound of a coffee shop?

can’t remember the name of a song?

the thoughts room

how to love yourself

upload anything from your iPhone etc. to your laptop

learn another language

make HUGE unpoppable bubbles

play some piano

draw a stick man and watch the story!

thousands of stars (you can zoom in/out and learn about them)

check if a username is taken (any site! twitter/tumblr, etc)

draws stuff as you move your curser

tell your thoughts to no one

play with cob web

make music with balloons

learn to play the guitar

learn to build a ship in a bottle

learn origami

learn some yoyo tricks

make your own stuffed animals

how to decorate iphone cases

make a candle

important things you should remember

how to kill your anxiety

how to help someone with their anxiety

look for literally any book you want (free)

waterproof your shoes

know what your emotion is

how to love yourself

ultimate writers resources masterpost

learn how to make punk edits without photoshop

dont know what to read?

learn a new habit

how to answer the top 35 asked questions when applying for a job

want to draw?

The quiet place

MOVIES

Giant Movie masterpost

Disney movies masterpost

Superhero movies masterpost

Movies for when you’re sick

Scary movies masterpost

Tumblr dedicated to finding movie links

When to pee during a movie

[softwaring]

A wave crashes into a lighthouse in Porto, Portugal. The photographer was dragged by the wave and had to receive care for hypothermia, but is fine now. x

[civilizationfiction]

Bridge City by KlausPillon

[fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment]

Do you have any advice on creating a government? In my novel, there is a group of rebels trying to overthrow the corrupt government from the inside, but I'm not very educated on government positions and the way it works. Are there any resources you could send my way?

I think this really depends on how you are going to set this government up, because across the world, countries are governed in a whole manner of ways. I’ll give you an example of how the British government works, as I live in this country and know more about that than anywhere else. I don’t want to spread misinformation about how other countries in the world are governed, so please keep an eye out for follower responses, in case somebody who does know better than me can provide some insight.

I’ll label each part accordingly so you can just skip to the bit you want to read, too.

Examples of Government: United Kingdom

Here, there are several parties that aim for a majority in government every five years in the General Election. Whilst there are multiple political parties, it has been the way for a very long time that only one of two parties will ever achieve a majority. It is often between Labour (left-wing) and the Tories (right-wing).

My knowledge on British Politics is pretty sketchy, so forgive me for not delving too far back in time! I will provide resources however, so you can do your own research if you wish.

Anyway, ‘left’ and ‘right’ here refers to the direction these parties take in their governing policies and beliefs. Left-wing in the extreme leans towards communism, akin to Lenin and his Bolsheviks in the early days of Soviet Russia. Right-wing in the extreme can become authoritarianism, not unlike Nazism in Germany.

Politics itself can get very complicated in the way that votes are counted and gathered. In England, ballot stations are opened up in most all towns and cities and everyone has the majority of the day and evening to submit their vote. However, it’s not as simple as counting up each vote and adding it to the ‘Conservatives’ pile, the ‘Labour’ pile, the ‘Liberal Democrats’ pile, etc…

The United Kingdom is divided up into ‘constituencies’ and each constituency votes for an MP, aka, Member of Parliament. 

If you want to vote for a Labour government, for example, you must vote in the Labour MP for your constituency. So in the end, your choice of government might not gain a majority in Parliament, but your chosen MP might stand a chance of getting a seat, because the MP candidate that gains the most votes in that area gains a ‘seat’ in Parliament. 

Then, the political party with the most ‘seats’ gains a majority, and therefore holds more power than the others in Parliament. The UK works on a ‘First Past the Post’ system too… so as soon as a political party hits that majority, they’re as good as in.

In the British Parliament, there are two houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. I think it can go either way, in terms of initiating a legislative change via a Bill or an Act. A Bill refers to the proposal of a new law or a proposal to change an existing law. An Act creates a new law or changes a law, so it’s like: Draft Bill > Bill > Act, to put it very simply. You can learn about making laws in the UK over here.

The Queen and the monarchy in general do not have any political power over Great Britain. You can read more about the role of the monarchy in Parliament here.

The resources below are just links to some political party web pages so you can get a feel for how each kind of party conveys itself. There are more parties than those, but they’re just to get you started.

Please note that I do not condone or endorse any of the content you find on those sites and I have no responsibility for them or their political views:

Other Resources

Parliament UK

Conservative Party

Labour Party

Liberal Democratic Party

Scottish National Party

Plaid Cymru - the Part of Wales

Green Party

Creating a Government

You need to think about a lot of things for this, because politics and governmental structures are complicated affairs. A simple formula to get started could be along the lines of:

Is the government autocratic or democratic?

How is the government elected into power?

What powers do the people have in terms of election, law changes and generally throughout society?

How does voting work, if at all?

What governmental bodies exist, and governmental services?

How does the government keep the peace in society? What is their relationship with their police force, and armed forces?

How long does it take the government to implement law changes? What must they do to implement a law change?

How does the government regulate their services, such as education, healthcare, etc?

How much contact do the people have with members of the government?

Who is involved in the government, and what are their roles?

Who is/are the main figurehead(s) and where are they likely to be seen? How are they likely to be seen? What kind of things do they do on a daily basis?

In what way is the media involved with the government? What kind of television programmes and new segments are common? What are the newspapers like and what stories do they spin? From which angle does a story come from most of the time?

This might all sound complicated, but the mindset of the people in your story is also very important. How big are your ‘rebels’ in terms of group numbers? What kind of things do they do, how does the government respond to them? What do the majority of people in society feel about them?

Sometimes, a government will know exactly how to make protests difficult… and you might want to consider how the government in your own story use their power to get back at the rebels and to prevent them achieving their goals.

Resources

World Building: Types of Government

World Building (scroll down to ‘Government’)

Lawlessness, Anarchy and Power Vacuums

How to Write & Handle Politics

Including Politics

Recommended Reading

1984, George Orwell

Animal Farm, George Orwell

The Stone Gods, Jeanette Winterson

The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Attwood

The Children of Men, P.D. James

Child 44, Tom Rob Smith

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Breathe, Sarah Crossan

I hope this helps…! Please feel free, anyone who knows better, to correct any misinformation on my part, or to include more resources and information where necessary.

- enlee

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  Wyn Evans