I'm going to sub-skeet this because I don't have the strength or inclination to get into it with...strangers.
Copying is part of the creative process. Many creatives start by emulating their influences. You grow out of it.
Fanfic can be a part of that, or its own thing, or both.
Lighten up.
Amen. The earliest fanfic I remember writing was a mashup of Star Trek, Galactica, Star Wars, and Space 1999 with a character from each stuck on a ship and working together to get back to their respective crews.
I was in 2nd grade. Realizing I could do that was freeing. And delightful.
