Great writing Luca! Inspiring story.

As a creative person, I realised at some point that most of what I ascribed as "my creativity" was heavily inspired from other people's work. But at some point, I realised a lot of creativity is like that. Lots of the media industry is based on remixing common styles and genres. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

I'm actually surprised the original author minds so much. I think one thing you could've done was to bring the original author in the loop, perhaps pay some royalties. But other than that, I think it was a proper house-style for Bunq, instead of creating something fully original. Most people don't even know Malika, and through Bunq her artstyle could get a way bigger reach. It's an opportunity, not a problem.

Anyway, brave step writing down how you feel! I'm looking forward to your further writings :)