Fanfic Explosion

A fanfic explosion (also badfic explosion) happens when a continuum becomes extremely popular in a relatively short amount of time, swamping the PPC with badfic. This usually results in severely overworked agents.

In the departments handling the continuum where the explosion is occurring, agents may be out on missions so constantly that their only chance of getting food or rest occur inside the fics; it is said that during the worst explosions, agents have worked for the PPC for months without ever using their beds.

A fanfic explosion invariably causes a large amount of overflow badfic when the continuum's dedicated DMS and DBS divisions are overwhelmed. Overflow badfic tends to be sent to the DMS and DBS freelance departments and to Floaters, but even these departments can be overwhelmed, and fics can be sent to entirely different departments, sometimes to agents with little or no experience in the continuum or who specialize in some other kind of badfic. On occasion, overflow has even been sent to places like the Department of Author Correspondence or the A/V Division.

Because of badfic overflow, continua which have caused fanfic explosions tend to be known to most PPC agents; nearly every PPC agent, if he stays alive and sane long enough, will probably have the experience of portaling into Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. PPC training, such as it is, usually includes familiarization with the worst-beseiged of the continua.

Fanfic explosions tend to be a bad thing for the sanity of PPC agents; they are partly responsible for the distinct lack of vacations available for PPC agents and part of the reason retirement is so rare.

Continua which have hosted fanfic explosions include:
 * Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the latter half of the 1800s and early 1900s, which sparked so many amateur adaptations (usually plays) that the continuum took heavy, permanent damage
 * Sherlock Holmes, in the early 1900s, when detective stories became wildly popular and many Sued Sherlock Holmes clones populated early detective stories
 * Star Trek, in the 1970s, during which fanzines allowed fanfic authors to publish their Star Trek fanfiction, and Paula Smith first gave a name to Mary Sue in the parody fanfic, A Trekkie's Tale
 * Lord of the Rings in the early 2000s, when Tolkien's trilogy was adapted into a movie trilogy and fangirls fell in love with Legolas. This was the era during which the PPC became larger and more active. The Original Series takes place during this time.
 * Harry Potter, from around 2000 until the present. The Harry Potter continuum's extreme popularity and the nature of the secret wizarding world made Harry Potter a natural target for fanbrats and goodfic writers alike.
 * Pirates of the Caribbean, starting in 2004, peaking in 2005, and settling to a high plateau until modern day. Mostly fueled by the charisma of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, and the appearance of Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, fangirls were lovestruck all around the world by this highly-accessable Disney series. Although it has quieted down, it does 'enjoy' spikes whenever a new movie is released. So far, two sequels have been made, and a third is projected for 2011.
 * Twilight, the most recent badfic explosion, unique in that the continuum itself contains many naturally-occurring Canon Sues. The resulting Mary Sue overload is in the process of causing irreversible damage, and the fact that very few agents can tolerate the continuum doesn't help.