I used to write fanfic, but only for a couple fandoms I was way too emotionally invested in, and only when I felt hurt by something the author did to their characters. I wrote it to make myself feel better, never showed it to anyone (I'm making myself sound pretty pathetic, I realize). And to be frank, I was always most comfortable writing fanfic when the source material wasn't very good to start with. I mean, I'm a huge X-Files fan, but never considered writing X-Files fanfic because I felt satisfied with what Chris Carter made. Now I know that's not why everyone writes fanfic. But it does mean I'm coming at it from a way different perspective than a lot of people in the debate (which is why I stayed out of it, although I've agreed with what you've said in general).

I'd really be hard-pressed to call Lovecraft Unbound fanfic, regardless. Mythos stuff is pretty much at the level of "shared world" at this point, and wasn't Lovecraft ok with that? Anyway, "Marya Nox" is not anywhere near PP&Z. I think there's a line between "fanfic" and "homage/derivative" - because I wouldn't call King's "Jerusalem's Lot" fanfiction of "Rats In The Walls" either. Maybe that's for the reason you mentioned - I actually read Jerusalem before I read Rats, and although King is obviously picking up the ancestral-home/rats-in-the-walls thing, the rest of the story is very different and stands totally on its own. I was actually surprised by Rats because I expected it to be more like Jerusalem.

I think I'm just going round in circles now.