History WebOriginal / ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum

[[TheWikiRule Has]] a [[http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Guide_to_the_PPC wiki]] with a helpful guide for newbies. Its Posting Board (where most conversation is done) is [[https://www.plotprotectors.org/ here]] while TheOriginalSeries and some of the early spinoffs can be found [[https://plotprotectors.neocities.org/TOS/ here]]. There is also a private Discord. The FanFic/OfficialFanfictionUniversity (and its spinoffs) share a multiverse with the PPC.

It's a setting where electronics tend to [[MadeOfExplodium blow up at the first excuse]] or [[InstantAIJustAddWater develop sentience if not properly maintained]], ''everything'' [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum Runs On Nonsensoleum]] and literal [[PlotHole Plot Holes]], the Ironic Overpower will strike down anyone that [[TemptingFate tempts fate]], and {{pun}}s are [[IncrediblyLamePun unavoidable]]. Training is inconsistent at best, ranging from TrainingFromHell to [[SinkOrSwimMentor being given useless directions and surviving the first mission]], equipment and pay can be charitably described as [[ChekhovsArmoury exactly]] [[WithThisHerring minimal]]. Agents cause intentionally [[DeathByIrony ironic deaths]], Sue Soufflé is [[MadeFromRealGirlScouts Made From Real Sues]], and almost everyone wakes up the night after a party asking WhatDidIDoLastNight [[LampshadeHanging Expect lampshades]]. [[LampshadeWearing Both types]].

Installments in the Protectors of the Plot Continuum canon can be considered {{metafic}}tional SharedUniverse FanFic-WebOriginal crossbreeds. It's a thoroughly tongue-in-cheek[[note]]barring certain more serious stories or spinoffs, which still have elements of the usual sense of humour[[/note]] narritive about an organisation of the same name whose purpose it is to tamper with fanfiction in order to bring it closer to the {{canon}} of the original work. Various departments kill Mary Sues, exorcise characters in Bad Slash stories, retrieve characters from bad [=AUs=], untangle continuums in poorly-written crossovers, and do just about everything else that can be thought of. However, the organisation began with Sue assassinations, and is certainly most well-known for that.

Installments in the Protectors of the Plot Continuum canon can be considered {{metafic}}tional SharedUniverse FanFic-WebOriginal crossbreeds. It's a thoroughly tongue-in-cheek (barring certain more serious stories or spinoffs, which still have elements of the usual sense of humour) about an organisation of the same name whose purpose it is to tamper with fanfiction in order to bring it closer to the {{canon}} of the original work. Various departments kill Mary Sues, exorcise characters in Bad Slash stories, retrieve characters from bad [=AUs=], untangle continuums in poorly-written crossovers, and do just about everything else that can be thought of. However, the organisation began with Sue assassinations, and is certainly most well-known for that.

%%* BillBillJunkBill: Techno-Dann sifts through a box of assorted ray guns in search of a shrink ray, so that he can fit a [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon dragon]] into your average small apartment:

* ShoutOutThemeNaming: The quartet of agents featured in the "Four Demonly Kings" spin-off all have surnames derived from ''Literature/TheGoldenDemon'', while their first names are taken from Japanese folklore.

* FloralThemeNaming: Most of Dafydd and Constance's children are named after the plants the latter grows.

** The quartet of agents featured in the "Four Demonly Kings" spin-off all have surnames derived from ''Literature/TheGoldenDemon'', while their first names are taken from Japanese folklore.

** Four Demonly Kings agents all have their last names taken from a Meiji period novel and first names taken from Japanese folklore.

* CerebusRollercoaster: Because of the many authors and styles, PPC stories tend to run the gamut of comedy and drama.

* ClusterFBomb: When Falchion reads off the charge list to the "heroic" GaryStu on his first mission (see NeverTheSelvesShallMeet), he's so mad at him that he practically spews out the F-word every five seconds.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: One of the many perils of the job is the risk of, in the process of fighting Mary Sues, becoming one yourself.

* PlotHole: The PPC uses plot holes in much of its technology, allowing its agents to move and communicate between worlds and universes. The entirety of HQ in fact consists of bits of building joined up via plot holes. People regularly fall into HQ because of this.

* BerserkButton: Do not write bad RPF involving Kurt Cobain. Agent Trojie will ''not'' like that. Most other agents have at least one, as well.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Any agent who has a sweet and friendly demeanor will inevitably become an example of this since agents' jobs are to assassinate Mary Sues, do exorcisms (which involve bashing the possessed character over the head) or similar violent or semi-violent duties.

* BigDamnHeroes: The Librarian gets a particularly epic moment when his fellow agents are captured by Daleks -- [[spoiler:having abandoned his companions, he reappears just when the Daleks are about to execute them; he straps explosives to the Daleks, delivers a PreAssKickingOneLiner, and blows them to kingdom come.]]

* BillBillJunkBill: "Death ray...heat ray...death ray...freeze ray...manta ray? Here we are! Shrink ray!"

* BrainlessBeauty: Mary Sues are almost universally "beautiful" and universally dumber than a shoe.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Shows up sometimes in charge lists, which tend to start with minor charges like "having bad spelling" and go on to charging for horrific {{Squick}} or disrupting the entire fabric of the multiverse, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking then finish on the unofficial charges like "confusing PPC agents"]].

* BugWar: The Macrovirus incident. [[spoiler:Growth hormone from Paul Bunyan causes the macroviruses from Star Trek Voyager to turn into giant killer bugs that run amok in HQ.]] Over ''one thousand'' agents are killed by the bugs, and the place is torn apart. On top of that, Sues invade shortly afterward.

* TheBusCameBack: Sean returned after nearly a decade to help a team of newbies tackle an NSFW crossover involving a Slimer replacement raping Sam from Transformers.

* HandWave: [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] visits Headquarters during a major blackout, but has his memories of the event wiped afterwards. A few months later, some agents stumble across him while dealing with a DoorRoulette and he somehow recognizes them. Agent Sergio attributes the discrepancy to the Doctor being resistant to neuralysing as a side effect of being "a madman with a police box".

* BadassNormal: The most common character type among the agents are ordinary humans who learn to fight the Sues partly through training, partly through luck, partly through strength of will/character, and through the sheer workload making them very experienced ''very'' quickly, though many of them object to being called "normal".

* BambooTechnology: Among the various items used by the tech department includes [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes Calvin's duplicator and transmogrifier.]]
* BattleCouple: Any agent pair that gets in a relationship and works together. Agents Dafydd and Constance, Iodin and Alagos, Tawaki and Tadkeeta, and Eledhwen and Christianne come to mind.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Inverted, as the villains are Sues, with [[TheBeautifulElite the unnatural beauty that implies]].
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Supernumerary asked to be partnered with an ''Animorphs'' Andalite, due to their normally logical, professional manner. Yeeeah...

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs:
** Except when they're having [[{{Squick}} anatomically incorrect sex]]. Just ask Trojie, Pads, and everyone else who took on the legendary badfic, "WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime: Littlefoot X Cera".
** Played straight, however, with agents who are actual dinosaurs (such as [[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime Marsha the Triceratops]] and [[Franchise/JurassicPark Velociripper the Deinonychus]]).
** ''Tyrannosaurus rex'': Yes, they have one. Recruited from the universe of the little-known anime film ''Anime/YouAreUmasou'', no less.

* {{Angrish}}: Agents have sometimes babbled incoherently if they're particularly angry with a badfic.

* AccidentalMisnaming:
-->'''Agent Acacia:''' "Don't call me Acy!"

* AlienBlood: "Mary Sue" characters bleed red or pink [[EverythingsBetterWithSparkles glittery]] blood, or, in extreme cases, "only" glitter.

%%* {{Angrish}}: Agents have sometimes "spoken" this.

%%* BewareTheNiceOnes: Any agent who has a sweet and friendly demeanor will inevitably become an example of this.
* BigBad: The Mysterious Somebody, Bracket Fungus, and League of Mary-Sue Factories.

** CerebusRollercoaster: Because of the many authors and styles, PPC stories tend to run the gamut of comedy and drama.

%%* CloudCuckooLander: Many agents.

** Nonhuman agents unused to human ways sometimes do this.

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: The unusual ways most Agents dispose of Sues. On top of that, there's actually a department ''called'' the Department of Cool and Unusual Punishment, which presumably deals with this.

%% Zero-context* CuddleBug: Luxury. So, so much.

* DeathSeeker: [[MeaningfulName Suicide]] ([[CharacterDevelopment although he's growing out of this]]) and, according to WordOfGod, [[HateSink the Notary]].

* DoubleEntendre: Some agents -- particularly in Bad Slash -- like to point these out.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu:
** Some of the Sues killed by agents have been literal goddesses. Or demi-goddesses, in the case of Maia in Lord of the Rings. Killing them is possible not because the agent is overpowered, but because Mary Sues are not very intelligent or have very shallow ways of using their powers that lead to their demise. Or, in the case of Agent Mike de Bergerac, it ''is'' because the agent is overpowered.

*** A [[Film/TheHobbit Smaug]][[Series/{{Sherlock}} lock]]!Stu idiotically provoked [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Ancalagon]] [[{{Kaiju}} the Black]]. [[Awesome/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum He is described as gazing into the mouth of Hell.]]
* DramaticReading: of ''Fanfic/LegolasByLaura'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CrG6UYSc6A by a Gathering]].
** This has been a popular pasttime of [=PPCers=] in general.

* ExactWords: Word Worlds do this when badfic gives improbable descriptions.
** Some agents like to pull this off as well when they inflict DeathByIrony on Sues.
* ExpandedUniverse: The various spinoffs are technically this for the Original Series.
%%* FacePalm: Used quite often by most agents.

* FanDisservice / FetishRetardant: The No-Drool Videos featuring such beauties as [[Literature/{{Discworld}} the Unseen University’s Librarian]].
* FireForgedFriends: Most agent pairs that start out with the two of them bickering or otherwise having hard feelings turn into this.
%%* FluffyTamer: Any agent with a large collection of minis.

* FullFrontalAssault: Sometimes, if a canonical species does not wear clothes, Agents disguised as such will go in the nude.

* GadgeteerGenius: Makes-Things, Techno-Dann, Liz O'Grady, and the entire Department of Sufficiently Advanced Technology as a whole.

* GenderBender: There was an... ''incident''... involving an AxCrazy Agent with a TransformationRay.

* HarmfulToMinors: Some young agents, the rescued Sue-offspring.
* HasTwoMommies: Many ex-Sue children, and some Mpreg kids, are adopted by Agents.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Some agent pairs. "Things I Am Not Allowed To Do At The PPC" instructs the agents not to refer to their partners this way, though.

* HonoraryUncle: Applies to any agent who adopts Nursery children.
* HormoneAddledTeenager: Most of the Mary Sues and their writers. Some of the agents have tendencies that way, but tend to get it squicked out of them.

* ImprobableWeaponUser / ImprovisedWeapon: Used frequently. Justified in that most agents who use these types of weapons are from continua that ''only'' use improbable weapons.
%%* INeedAFreakingDrink: Particularly bad fics or annoying co-workers tend to induce this.

%%* InterspeciesRomance: The PPC is a multidimensional organisation. This is the inevitable result.

* LoonyFan: Fans of varying levels of loonyness are responsible for the creation of Mary Sues. Bamf!Sues could also count.

* MadnessMantra: "I must not shirk the Duty."

* MayflyDecemberRomance: Judging by Fenworth and Paladin's [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld ages]] in the ''Literature/DragonKeeperChronicles'', Chrysocome and Del's marriage is this.

* MeaningfulName: Nendil Morifëa's second-name literally means "Black soul". Some other agents also have meaningful names: sometimes as a chosen alias or in the form of a pun, and sometimes because the culture from which they hail considers it normal. PPC Agents charge Mary Sues with this when it's out of place, tacky, and [[{{Irony}} meaningless]].

* MisterSeahorse: Male Pregnancy is a common and serious charge, both dealt with within the Department of Bad Slash and the focus of the Division of Mpreg. Usually fixed by combining the [[Film/TheMatrix debugger]] with a {{People Jar|s}} or more suitable parent (i.e., one with a uterus).

* MostCommonSuperpower: Sues frequently have it. Agents occasionally do, but less of a point is made of such.

* MrFixit: The entire Department of Sufficiently Advanced Technology (or Ms. Fixit, as the case may be). Makes-Things especially has a knack for winding up in this role.
** One mission actually gave Makes-Things an assistant called Fix-It.

* MustHaveCaffeine: Agents don't get much time to sleep in the first place.
* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: See ImHavingSoulPains.

** Almost every agent pair has at least one.

* {{Nosebleed}}: No-Drool Videos are used to curb these (and immaturity around Lust Objects in general).
* NoSocialSkills: Some non-human agents. And, for that matter, some of the human ones.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat:
** The Marquis de Sod.
** The Notary, ''in spades''.

* OldMaster: Any sufficiently experienced agent can turn into this.

* OurMonstersAreDifferent: Agents from several different continua.

* ThePlague: The Macrovirus Emergency. ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Macrocosm]]'' taken up to eleven.

* PleasePutSomeClothesOn:
** The standard reaction to Luxury.
** Peter Piper's reaction to finding his partner [[http://www.freewebs.com/bonsaimallorn4/DIO2.htm sunbathing]]. Also Nume's reaction to Ilraen's failed morphing, Kern's reaction to Logan's penchant to go shirtless, Brightbeard's typical response to Barid, who doesn't like to wear clothing. Also a semi-common reaction to Sues, and Blast J's reaction to a nymph newbie [[InnocentFanserviceGirl wearing nothing but VaporWear]].
** Also happens to Selene near the end of [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10727893/4/PPC-Driftwood her third mission]] with Kaitlyn.
** [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uxS825Slu8VGYjFXwqwW1kJToxiIUbAmS-JTj09Gbhg/pub Orientation Day]] practically opens with this trope, with [[StraightGay Chakkik]] tripping over his partner's new girlfriend, with [[ModestyBedsheet neither girl being dressed]].

** ClusterFBomb: When Falchion reads off the charge list to the "heroic" GaryStu on his first mission (see NeverTheSelvesShallMeet), he's so mad at him that he practically spews out the F-word every five seconds.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Some agents, particularly the elves and Time Lords.

* SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains: PPC uniforms are [[TheMenInBlack black]], good for a wide variety of temperature ranges, and comfortable to spend time in. Sues usually aim for ostentatious, and in the Mirror Multiverse, the female agents wear very little.

* StuffBlowingUp: Always a favorite when the agents of DOGA are involved.

* UnexplainedRecovery: Canon characters can be "made to think they're dead" by fanauthors, but cannot actually die until their original author says they have. Dead agents usually cannot be resurrected, though Dafydd Illian is a notable exception. The Medical department can heal pretty much anything short of death.

[[TheWikiRule Has]] a [[http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Guide_to_the_PPC wiki]] with a helpful guide for newbies. Its Posting Board (where most conversation is done) is [[https://www.plotprotectors.org/ here]] while TheOriginalSeries and some of the early spinoffs can be found [[http://plotprotectors.tripod.com/TOS/ here]]. There is also a private Discord. The FanFic/OfficialFanfictionUniversity (and its spinoffs) share a multiverse with the PPC.

* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: From the original series: Jay ''loves'' slimy tentacled things. She gets maternal over ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing the Watcher]]''. Another more recent example is Zara, who’s adopted a friendly replacement of the mutated bear from Annihilation and a fell beast.

* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: From the original series: Jay ''loves'' slimy tentacled things. She gets maternal over ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing the Watcher]]''.

* BadassInDistress: Agents Laburnum, Manx, and Adder have all been captured by villains when missions went wrong.

* PunchClockHero or PunchClockVillain: Technically, being a PPC agent is a job, though agents generally aren't paid much post-Reorganisation (before which [[GoldenAge they were paid very well and got frequent holidays]], but at the cost of being ruled by the BigBad and his SecretPolice) and don't do it for the money. On the plus side, there isn't very much you ''need'' to pay for in HQ anyway.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The entire PPC.

* ResurrectionSickness: A staple for the Time Lord agents after regenerating.

* RingRingCRUNCH: the consoles’ incessant beeping sometimes causes the agents to react… violently.

* JustForPun: Puns are a popular form of amusement/[[IncrediblyLamePun torture]] for PPC agents.

[[TheWikiRule Has]] a [[http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Guide_to_the_PPC wiki]] with a helpful guide for newbies. HQ is [[https://www.plotprotectors.org/ here]] while TheOriginalSeries and some of the early spinoffs can be found [[http://plotprotectors.tripod.com/TOS/ here]]. The FanFic/OfficialFanfictionUniversity (and its spinoffs) share a multiverse with the PPC.

* TemptingFate: The Ironic Overpower is the entity being tempted. [[GenreSavvy Experienced agents]] will attempt to avoid this -- [[RuleOfFunny and fail, of course.]]

* BadassArmy: The Black Cats. Even though [[spoiler:[[http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Mysterious_Somebody The Mysterious Somebody]]]] quickly became the real threat during the ''Crashing Down'' story, the Cats have made the best showing against the PPC out of any groups to attack Headquarters; at least part of this was due to most of them having been former PPC agents themselves, and thus knowing how best to fight them.
* BadassCreed: "[[ShoutOut Do not meddle in the affairs]] of assassins, for we are heavily armed and quick to anger. And not noticeably subtle."
* BadassInDistress: Laburnum, Manx, and Adder have all been captured by villains when missions went wrong.

* FunWithAcronyms: One of the disguise generators is called the Disguise-Outfitting Ryticular Kostume System, or D.O.R.K.S. From the wiki:
-->[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial The K in "kostume" is the result of a typo on the patent form, and certainly not just there to make a spiffy acronym.]] Nobody knows what "ryticular" means, so don't ask.