I don't remember saying that, but I might have; Whedon is very fic-friendly. I think TV creators tend to be more amenable to the idea because they're used to other people working with "their" creations -- almost no TV shows are written by one and only one person.

Fanfic isn't the natural creative outlet for everybody, just as there are plenty of fanficcers (myself included) who are not particularly drawn to original writing. But if your main issue is the lack of an audience, there must be outlets for that with original fic. It might take more work to find a writers' group, but I'm sure they're out there. Of course, not being a writer of original fiction, I've never gone looking. The only place I know much about is Fiction Press, a Fanfiction.net-style archive, but I don't know how easy it is to find readers there.

I do understand the need to be read, though. Very much so. I fear that I am a little pathological about checking hit counts and watching email for reviews, especially right after I post something. If my first stories hadn't found a small audience, I don't know if I would have kept writing. I'd like to think I would have. But it's hard to say.