The Bin Laden in the story isn't the real one.

Regarding RL Figures in Badfic by PoorCynic on 2010-07-03 15:41:00 UTC Reply

I recently found a Mass Effect Marty Stu I'd love to take down (time travelling badass soldier saves Shepard = cliches coming out of your ears) I've held back because of the opening scene, where said Stu kills Osama bin Laden. My agents would have to save him in order to preserve continuity. (As found at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6021452/1/ATaleoftwoMarines)

Now, I would have no problem writing a scenario like this. It's only fiction, after all, and I would not actually rescue the man from a sniper bullet in real life. My fear is that having my agents save the most infamous terrorist in the world could cause a bit of an online kerfuffle.

This is not the only story I've seen with RL villains playing major roles. "If I Was Your Nazi" springs immediately to mind.

How should I approach this? Should I even bother trying to approach this?

The Bin Laden in the story isn't the real one. by Calista on 2010-07-03 22:30:00 UTC Reply

The situation is really unrealistic. Bin Laden has proved a ridiculously hard enemy to catch; and the many, many Marines that have tried so far haven't managed it. Having the Stu catch Bin Laden is just not something that could actually happen; Bin Laden knows how much he is wanted and he is not the type to just go randomly walking out of buildings, without bodyguards, without protection, without disguise, without having checked for snipers.

I suggest you should have your agents go up to the dead bin Laden and find little more than a cardboard cutout, such as the sort people practice shooting at, and be disappointed that--shot by a Stu or not--he isn't real.

Or by IndeMaat on 2010-07-04 08:08:00 UTC Reply

Being dead in a badfic is the reason why he can't be found in real life.

I'm with Neshomeh, if you don't want to deal with it, then don't. Usually there's enough charges in a fic to not have to deal with every tiny or major detail.

I skipped a chapter (and not mentioned it at all in the mission) a while ago because I was not in the mood to find out how FBI and NCIS interview minors. Can FBI tell they will be tried as an adult, or is that up to prosecution to decide? Can the minor legally weaver a lawyer or child advocate present during questioning? Or will the absence of both of these people get the case thrown out of court so fast the interviewers' heads will spin?

I didn't feel like doing the research, or even know where to start (my hunch that the US has a decent enough legal system that protects minors from their own stupidity is only a hunch, and not good enough to form the basis of a charge). In the next chapter, happening simultaneously with the interview, the Sue kicked some ass and I thought that was a good time to just step into the fic and charge her.

---

I just remember a fic where the Sue claimed that she was given the order to assassinate someone in a motorcade. She quickly assumed it was Saddam. Agent Tasmin argued that was not possible, because two days before the fic was set the trial against Saddam had started. He therefore couldn't be at the place where the Sue said he would be. (Plus assassinating him while he's standing trial is terribly bad PR for the British military.)

Good question. by Neshomeh on 2010-07-03 16:05:00 UTC Reply

I appreciate you asking before doing anything with it.

I can think of one option, and that is to just gloss over that part. Don't mention it at all in the course of the mission. I assume there's enough else going on that your charge list wouldn't hinge on that.

I'm with you in theory, and it wouldn't be the first instance of continuity-traveling characters having to save (or just not kill) Hitler/whoever, but it may be Too Soon for that regarding bin Laden.

~Neshomeh