From an IM conversation I had earlier this evening.

[camwyn]

camwyn cwru: Oh, God, Discworld attitude combined itself with the Real Ghostbusters episode I watched last night...
nserenskaya: Do I want to know? *grin*
camwyn cwru: The ep was Collect Call of Cathulhu, which includes a scene of NYPD members frisking Cathulhu cultists (that's how they spelled it in the ep).
nserenskaya: Cathulhu, eh?
camwyn cwru: I tried to think of what they were supposed to be charging the cultists with. And suddenly I could hear Vimes listing off potential offenses in my head- 'receipt of stolen property, grand larceny, conspiracy to commit affray, destruction of private property, attempted murder (eight million counts)'.
nserenskaya: *snickers* Awwww....Vimesy.
camwyn cwru: And next thing I knew I realised that you could probably prosecute supernatural wackos like them or like Ivo Shandor under anti-terrorism laws...
camwyn cwru: Which led to the image of Dr. Spengler testifying in court as an expert witness.
nserenskaya: ...
nserenskaya: *pictures this*
camwyn cwru: If the supernatural is real and the techniques are reliable then there is goign to be some kind of interaction with the criminal justice system eventually.
nserenskaya: Oh, yes. Prosecuting ghosts for disturbing the peace with loud chain-jangling outside one's door at one AM, for instance.
nserenskaya: Being Naughtily Dead.
camwyn cwru: Ghosts are dead. The dead are no longer citizens of any country and are universally recognized as having no legal rights that the living are bound to respect (to paraphrase Chief Justice Roger "Dred Scott decision" Taney).
camwyn cwru: Therefore the GHostbusters, as official representatives of the city, county and state of New York may remove them from various premises without fear of legal reprisal on behalf of said ghosts; the entities in question fall into the same category as stray animals without owners.
nserenskaya: Hey, hey, hey. Here comes Reg Shoe and the Dead Rights Campaign.
camwyn cwru: Yes, well, that's on Discworld. I don't see him turning up in Manhattan any time soon.
nserenskaya: UNDEAD YES! UNPERSON NO!
nserenskaya: *snicker* I dunno, I think he'd fit right in
camwyn cwru: Oh, he would. Except that I can't quite get beyond this image that just popped in there...
camwyn cwru: Reg: *appears in courtroom, starts his usual stirring chant*
camwyn cwru: Egon: *pulls an Indiana Jones and points at the guy, says three words in Hebrew, and drops him in his tracks*
nserenskaya: jury: *stare*
camwyn cwru: Egon: *just smiles that small, suppressed, I-know-more-than-youuuuu-do half smile of his*
nserenskaya: Random golems: *make selves scarce*
camwyn cwru: Peter: Right, okay, now that that's over with, can we get on with this testimony thing? I have somewhere to be in half an hour...

Comments

[pandoras-closet.livejournal.com]

Now you've made me remember that Ghostbusters in the year 2021 idea I had a while back.

Hmmm . . . *Plotbunnies*

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

:wubs:

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

Oh, you are so metaquotesed. :-)

[cold-hope.livejournal.com]

*snh, snh, snh*

[derien.livejournal.com]

Aww, poor Reg! *tries to rescucitate a dead man*

[avram]

One detail I came up with for an RPG (never got used) was a group of undead murder victims who lobbied against gun control, claiming that if they’d been armed they wouldn’t have been killed. They called themselves the Cold Dead Hands.

[avram]

Oh, and another bit that almost did become relevant in an RPG: Vatican law forbids the trying of a dead person. Ordered by Pope John IX, in the aftermath of the Cadaver Synod.

[kaikias.livejournal.com]

I fear, yet love, your brain.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

I was breaking swirlingpoetry and mannoftalent describing/quoting from Hellblazer:Hogwarts and Who You Gonna Owl. I'm so sending them over to this entry. :->

BTW, I'm still making a printable, easy-to-read PDF version of aforementioned two for my own purposes, if you want access to it.

[taimatsu]

'grand larceny' = not a British term = not something TP would write for SV to say. Otherwise, yay! :)

[camwyn]

True enough. That was about the point when it started veering towards wossname, the idea that the supernatural wackos would be targeted under anti-terror laws the way certain types of protester are targeted under anti-racketeering laws now.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

Admittedly, often the purpose of a given ghost's actions is to ... cause fear. Which sounds like terrorism to me. Sort of. :->

[lots42.livejournal.com]

I was under the impression that they stopped using anti-racketteering laws to go after protesters.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

I would so, *SO* read this. Hee!

[not-croaker.livejournal.com]

Oh, that just so rocks on toast, Camwyn. Please pretty please? Right after you get the next ep of HB:HW posted?

[lots42.livejournal.com]

"Your honor! Please instruct Mr. Spengler to desist from sending my clients into the hereafter!"

[almeda.livejournal.com]

*laughs like drain*

[camwyn]

"That would be Doctor Spengler, thank you."