1 Ophelia: {standing in anger} Will! You can't do a novelisation of Lord of the Rings! The movies are already based on the greatest novels ever written!
2 Shakespeare: {indignant} But it's my dream to be a writer, Ophelia! This is my best chance to break into the publishing industry!
3 Ophelia: {getting more adamant} Will, it's Tolkien! It'll be a travesty of classic literature! Any real writer wouldn't even think twice about this offer!
4 Shakespeare: {oh boy, that did it, he's really angry now} Harry Potter fan-fic is real writing!

2014-02-25 Rerun commentary: Fan fiction is a complex business, with some people deriding it, some people praising its virtues, and some people threatening to stop it with legal action.

I am not one to talk. This strip is essentially Shakespeare fan fiction, and several of the other themes in this comic are highly fan fictiony. Basically I think it's cool. But don't try to make any money off it. If you want to do that, come up with your own characters. It's really not that hard.