Fifty Shades began as Twilight fan fiction, published chapter by chapter online under the title Master of the Universe, with Bella and Edward's names on the characters. E. L. James has never disputed this; the book was rewritten with the names changed and the supernatural removed, and published as original fiction. What survived the change:
- The structure: an inexperienced young woman narrating in first person, drawn to a wealthy, controlling, much-discussed man who warns her away from himself
- Ana and Christian as Bella and Edward with the vampirism taken out and the control kept, which is what makes the second book read as an argument the first one started
- The best friend, the protective family, the car, the watching
Filed HIGH. This is the strongest form the connection can take: not an influence on a book but the literal draft it was rewritten from.