actual british people required

[ontology]

Right, I've run into a bit of a brick wall -- well, maybe only plaster -- in the NaNo and need some information from those of you on the f-list who are, unlike me, actually British. The vampire-hunting society turns out not be a Society at all but some sort of government, erm, thingummy. This solves a lot of problems, coincidentally, such as why both Evy and Mr Caruthers are convinced (or ordered) to work for them when they don't agree with the way they do things, and, you know, why they exist in the first place. Now that I've thought of it, it seems very silly that all of the rounding up of undead threats (and calming of any and all other supernatural shenanigans) would be left to citizens; surely there would be a special branch of government/police/something to deal with this. (And so there is!) Anyway: I don't really know how to go about naming this branch of government, figuring out what sort of power they would have and how much, and whether they'd be a sub-division of something else. And what sort of offices people in it would hold. And suchlike. Any help would be very appreciated and possibly rewarded with fresh chocolate-chip pound cake or mixtapes.

Comments

[such_heights]

Well, these days counter-terrorism is part of the Home Office, so I suppose they could be a subsection of that, otherwise they'd be Department of Vampires or something, hee. You'd then have a Vampire Secretary/Minister, and if the department was big enough they could be part of the prime minister's cabinet. Below that I think the different departments really run themselves depending on the sorts of responsibilities needed - Education, for instance, has a lot of people doing things like inspecting schools and setting curriculums and whatnot, so whatever it is your vampire department spends its time doing, you'd have hierarchies for that I suppose. And you know, really I'd imagine it'd all sort of run a bit like the Ministry of Magic, except less wizards and more government-sanctioned. :P

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

Thankee; this is excellent! I think I'm going with a Ministry of the Paranormal? Does that sound all right? They would have a vampire division that would probably be the largest and most important. And then lots of divisions that nobody wants to work in because they involve chasing around little mischievous things and fixing really hugely problematic spells that make city blocks blow up or something. :p

How much power might they have to practically draft people into their services if things got very desperate?

Heeeeeee, I could really have fun with the Ministry of Magic-ness. I suppose silly hats are out of the question. :p

(...I just realised that a considerable amount of my knowledge of British government comes from, um, Monty Python. *FACEPALM*)

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

LJ. STOP IT. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IN TWO DAYS YOU HAVE EATEN A NANO-RELATED REPLY TO ONE OF MY BANUI'S POSTS AND IT IS GETTING SERIOUSLY ANNOYING. STOP SUCKING NOW, PLEASE.

*attempts to rewrite comment* It's outside the government and beyond the police, silly! Or however it goes. Of course if Uncle Rusty's grasp of UK government is even close to his grasp of science or plot, that's probably not the best model.

Me being not actually British, I'd probably look up the structure of British government on Wikipedia and possibly on some actual UK government website, if I was feeling really daring, and make up everything else based on what's known about the Ministry of Magic. So...yeah, I'm not too helpful. In case nobody else is much more helpful and/or actually British, though, you might pop over to little_details for help. But I'll warn you, don't go poking through the memories--it's as big a timesuck as TV Tropes.

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

I tried to use Wikipedia, but there was simultaneously too much and not enough information. :p

(Also I am maybe absolutely totally not riffing off SOF here, just so you know. NOT AT ALLLLL. Anyway mine can't be rotten with partbloods because as far as I know I haven't got anything interbreedable.)

Speaking of informationtastic time-sucks, do not go on the NaNo forums. Like, ever. Especially the ones where people are asking for this kind of information. I get lost for hours reading about traffic systems in Tokyo and ways someone's parents might have died and what kind of food people ate for breakfast in 1800.

YOUR ICON IS THIS CLOSE TO MAKING ME CRY. I JUST WATCHED S2 AGAIN AND WAS SINGING "FULL OF GRACE" AT WORK BECAUSE IT GOT STUCK IN MY HEAD. AND THEN I WAS SNIFFLING. AND THEN EDWARD WAS GLOWERING AT ME ALL "WE HAVE BETTER HAIR!" AND I WAS ALL "WHY DON'T YOU GO GO OVER AND MAKE SURE ALL OF THE DVDS ARE REALLY IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER OKAY?"

WAIT, YOU HAVE A XLORMP ICON? I KNEW YOU WERE AWESOME! :D :D (...okay. I totally want a Team Xlormp t-shirt to wear to work ALL THE TIME because there were actual Twihards here today and THEY FRIGHTENED ME.)

[/Harry Potter]

[suangelita.livejournal.com]

*cries and sniffles* I LOVE YOU ANGEL.

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

*snickers*

I just realised that I don't have a Buffy/Angel icon and that really needs to be rectified. :p

(I KNOW I COULD LOVE YOU MUCH BETTER THAN THIIIIIS... D: )

[suangelita.livejournal.com]

So I watched The Freshmen, as I hadn't watched it before. And OMG DID YOU KNOW THAT I *HATE* RILEY?!?!?

Loading up the 2nd ep of S4 as I haven't seen that. Afterward, I may ignore S4, except for bits and pieces, but MUST SKIP THE EVILNESS THAT IS RILEY.

[builtofsorrow.livejournal.com]

So now I know what to get you for Christmas. I mean... What? -whistles innocently-

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

If you did? IT WOULD BE THE BEST PRESENT EVER.

(Although explaining it to everyone, i.e., my family, would be, um, interesting. :p)

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

You/we really need to write that Jossverse/Twilight crossover. My life will be that much happier if we can have Angel meeting Edward and pwning him mightily.

I actually haven't even read all of xlormp but I need to, and I think it's hilarious, and...yeah. Also I would so wear a Team Xlormp shirt. Also also, I have a couple shirts on my wish list with wolves on, for various reasons? So I wrote in the comments about those items that I need them because I'm on Team Remus. No one in my family will get the reference, of course, because even those that are familiar with Remus (i.e. Kelsey) probably don't have a clue about the Twifandom. ...I would totally wear a Team Remus shirt, too. Or Team Tonks, for that matter, considering...well, yeah.

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

...Kyraaaaa.

little_details is THE WORST LJ COMMUNITY EVER.

*whimpers*

I may never leave. D:

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

I KNOW RIGHT. I pretty much haven't been back since agilebrit introduced me to it, mostly for the same reason I tend to avoid TVTropes--i.e., timesuck. Also I kind of forgot about it. But I'm quite certain it will come in very handy someday.

[barefoottomboy.livejournal.com]

*is ashamed at not knowing anything about the structure of UK government, despite being British*

The turn-of-the-last-century UK government will - I imagine - have been rather different to what it is now (hello empire, for one thing!), so I wouldn't worry too much about making it contemporaneously accurate. I'm not sure where you'd find out about historical forms of government, though, so you could probably just go "meh, alternative universe, so I can say what I like" instead.