Writer's Block: Sheldon and Penny 4ever!

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I have some friends who are really, really passionate about it so I try not to be too nasty about it anymore, but for the life of me I just cannot see the point. If you're a good writer why not just write your own original work? And if you're a terrible writer why mangle someone else's? I know that works of fiction are to inspire us to imagine and that if a work of fiction makes you want to imagine the further adventures of those characters then it has truly done its job well. But for so many fan fiction writers fan fiction seems like so much more than just a hobby: it's a lifestyle. And I guess that's what I have a hard time understanding, the whole lifestyle and culture that seems to go with it.

Then again, there have been multiple instances where a fan fiction author's work has been noticed and liked by a creator so much that they have been appointed a canon writer. Or in the case of a fantasy world near and dear to my heart, that of Legend of the Five Rings, THE canon writer. So who am I to judge?

And who the fuck are Sheldon and Penny?