Subject: Protectors Of The Plot Continuum
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Posted on: 2010-03-09 09:52:00 UTC

If it's bad OriginalFic, OriginalAuthorFic, or licensed CanonFic, that is the Plot Continuum that we're supposed to protect. If there's some fanbrat manages to make something that screams Sue even within the configuration of the Sword of Truth series, it's possible some PPC Agent is assigned the thing, assuming there's an Agent that's familiar with the setting and can be trusted to not kill every canon in a hundred miles.

There's no particular surfeit of Agents chronicled on these boards interested in signing up for such fics, and it would be hard to make them funny, though. You won't see them PPCed too often -- but there are some still in worse fandoms.

Some canons are just left alone. To borrow from the Manual :

"...in some cases there wasn't enough of a coherent 'canon' to allow a charge list to be composed. This problem has only been exaggerated by the trend in comic-book movies, and Intelligence has, in general, thrown up its hands and given fanwriters free reign. Some few dedicated Agents continue to monitor the continua to this day, searching for signs of coherency, but they are widely regarded as insane."
Presumably some writing is at this point, as well; it may be impossible to tell where the non-canon Sue is in whirlwinds of glitter, all the stable natural plotholes make the unstable ones near-impossible to figure out, or assembling a charge list is impossible. If the continuum can't be saved, the PPC is just too busy, underfunded, and inexperienced to try and waste Agents on such a matter.

There's some more in-depth discussions on this matter at the Mission Writing Guide on what can and can't be PPCed.

As for settings where the author has forbidden fanfiction, while there are still Mary Sues trying to bend the universe, it's probably best to leave them alone. We'd still be trespassing on the Author's territory, after all. That opens up a lot of opportunity for take-down notices or cease-and-desists on World One, and results ranging from lightning bolts from the sky to sudden quantum existence failure to the Words making every canon character think you're a threat. The Authors are the creators of these worlds, and while their power is not unlimited, Agents can not defy it without becoming the very things they hunt.

All that said, being humorous is a big part -- the big part -- of the PPC, too. If there's an incredibly obvious fanwriter's Sue in a fandom you love to hate, go for it and don't hesitate to make fun of the canonSues while you're there. You can't break what they do in canon, but that still leaves a lot of opportunity for humor.

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