So, let's get one thing straight here: I'm completely fine with original characters in fanfiction. Hell, I write them myself! I love seeing the kinds of characters people put into their stories, and how different they are from my own, or someone else's. I also don't have a problem with crossovers. I don't read them much because they're not really my thing, but I don't have a problem with them in general.

What I do have a problem with, though, is this:

People taking characters from one franchise/fandom, copy+pasting them into a fanfiction for a different fandom/an original story, and calling them an original character.

Because...that's not what they are.

You just stole a character.

Let's use an example. There's dozens of Marvel stories on here with a character whose face claim is Gal Galdot, whose hero name is Wonder Woman, whose real name is Diana Prince, who comes from the Amazons, etc. etc. Backstory literally the same as the DC movie; same personality; same powers. And yet, the authors call her an original character. Uh, no she's not. You didn't change anything. Like, at all. You just stole the DC character and plunked her in a Marvel fic and acted like she's your intellectual property.

If you want to write a Wonder Woman/Marvel crossover (to use the above example) in which Diana is a key player in Marvel events, that's fine! But acknowledge that she is NOT your character. You cannot claim a character that literally does not belong to you. That is theft.

This has been bugging me for a while, but I finally got so fed up I had to say something. Do what you will, just please, please understand this. Bye.

Published April 4, 2019