[Lawtan]

Well, to clarify plagiarization: One of the greatest Epics of Rome, the Aeneid, "plagiarized" the Odyssey and the Iliad.
And several novels are connected/pay homage to other works - really bad ones instead try to steal from other works instead.
I was not really thinking of fanfiction at all here...

I like the Epic of Gilgamesh, Jules Verne, and Edgar Allen Poe...to the same degree I like Diana Pharaoh Francis, Naomi Novik, or Dave Freer.
However, it just seems that sometimes things that are considered "cheesy" or "unrealistic" in modern works...are overlooked in earlier things because they are classical.

Bad romance dialogue in modern things: laughed at or criticized
Bad romance dialogue in Romeo and Juliet: Well, I laughed...

Or, Law is just a crazy cook. *Waves spatula around*