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Protectors of the Plot Continuum, nearly always referred to simply as the Original Series (TOS) by fans, is the first PPC series, begun by Jay and Acacia. It was started on January 30, 2002, not-so-coincidentally soon after the movie release of The Fellowship of the Ring. The barrage of badfic following that film inspired these two to create the world of the PPC that we all know and love. It has 26 missions in all, and for a long time had the most missions of any agent pair. (Tawaki, Iximaz, and IndeMaat are known to have published spin-offs with more missions than Jay and Acacia, and it is possible others have as well.)

It was originally posted on Fanfiction.net, but was kicked off (quite unfairly, we believe) on May 11, 2002. This event is known as the Takedown. TOS found a new home on Philosopher At Large's website, Odd Lots, until Odd Lots went down in 2009. Fortunately, Miss Cam also archived the series, and almost all of it could be found there until it, too, succumbed in 2015. As of 2012, the complete series is archived at PPC: The Lost Tales.

The Original Series ended when Jay and Acacia retired in 2003 and left the PPC to its own devices. Jay has returned to the Board once, but only very briefly.

Summary
When Laurel and her band crash their van through a movie screen and land in Middle-earth, Agents Jay and Acacia take on their iconic debut mission.

In Rivendell, Laurel and her two bandmates became guests of Elrond, and Arwen arranges for them to be dressed in "locally appropriate" clothing: a gown and robes. At the Council, the band play a rock song which mesmerizes the other attendees. Even Gandalf cheers when the band is done playing—though, of course, that may be in celebration of the end of the song rather than the song itself. Both Legolas and Boromir develop quite a thing for Laurel. The band join the Fellowship when it leaves Rivendell at dawn.

Shortly after leaving Rivendell, the agents, in the guise of orcs, intervene. The Sue is shot with a poisoned arrow; her two band-members are shot in the head. The corpses are fed to the Watcher in the Water.

Annotations
"Rambling Band" is the first PPC story and introduces several key aspects of the universe, including the console, Character Analysis Device, and Canon Analysis Device. Other aspects present in the early stories evolve over time.


 * "We have... a Mary Sue." (para. 3)
 * This exchange makes it clear that the agents weren't yet conceived of as working in a specific Mary Sue department.

External Link

 * Protectors of the Plot Continuum at PPC: The Lost Tales