I think Hell is freezing over.

I never thought I'd see the day when I would support SMeyer and her fandom. I've made my position on Twilight quite clear. Hint: I don't like it. Her writing is absolute tripe, the characters paper thin, the plot nonexistent, and the less we say about sparkling "vampires," the better. Similarly, I'm not too fond of the Twilight fandom. Most of the people I've had the pleasure of talking to are nice, respectful, and good-humored, but I'm also familiar with the dark, obsessive side that exists in every fandom.

Even with all of that, no one--no fandom, no author--should have to be put in the position E.L. James put them in with her trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey, the newest best-seller that was originally a Twilight fanfic.

Yes, you read that right. She did a "pull-to-publish." And that is despicable.

As hard as it might be for some, put yourself in the position of the Twi-Fandom and SMeyer. Someone writes a fanfic--an alternate universe one, sure, but still a fanfic--using the Twilight characters as the stars. The story becomes very popular, with thousands upon thousands of reviews. Then the author removes all trace of the story, even on her own personal page she's set up, changes the names, does a tweak here and there (including tweaks you, as a fan of the original, might have suggested), then bam! Publishes it, making sickening amounts of money.

I could go on about how horribly it's written, the stupid premise, or the misrepresentation of BDSM, but in the end, there are more serious issues I take with the series. One of them is how James stole SMeyer's characters, did a cosmetic tweak to them, and felt that was enough to count as making them her own. It's not.

Imagine if this had happened to another character, a more recognizable one, like Mickey Mouse. Imagine someone taking him, making him white with blue shorts, and then calling him Ricky the Rat--with no changes to his mannerisms or personality. It wouldn't matter if the scenarios he was in were different, there would be so many lawsuits from Disney, it would make your head spin. The same holds true for "Anastasia" and "Christian," the main characters from Fifty Shades. They are Bella and Edward, only with different names and a different appearence.

But, you know what? For the sake of argument, let's say SMeyer and her lawyers decide to take James to court, and the court decides there is nothing illegal about what was done. Fair enough, but that doesn't mean it isn't morally wrong. You might wonder what I mean by that, and simply, the problem I--as well as numerous others--have is that it breaks a certain understanding fanfic writers have with their readers. As a fanfic writer myself, I don't write my stories with the thought of potentially making a profit off them; I write because of my love for a particular series. Usually something about it has sparked a thought or an idea, and I wish to share this thought/idea with others who enjoy the series.

That's where James crossed the line. There's nothing wrong with a fanfic writer trying to become a published author. Hell, I'm trying to do that myself. But if that was what James desired, she should've done it the right way: write her own story, with her own characters, and try to get an agent. Instead, she took advantage of the Twilight fandom, using them as a springboard to becoming published.

Look, I realize that a certain vein of published fanfiction is very popular in the literary world right now. Consider all the vampire Pride and Prejudice novels, The Looking Glass Wars, and Wicked, probably the most well known fanfic of our time. The difference with them and Fifty Shades is two-fold: one, the books used as inspiration are public domain; and two, they went about getting published the correct way.

James, enjoy the time you have in the spotlight. Because if there is any justice in the world, this will be the only work you have published.