In reply to Lauren.

Hi Lauren, thanks for your thoughts.

"If he is influenced by your themes, which he readily admits"

He actually said he wasn't inspired by the themes, just the demo content.

"No one has a monopoly on minimalism, cleanness, and clarity in theme design."

Definitely not, and I would never claim to have ownership over any particular style, just my own. Add in the GPL and it's basically impossible to own anything, even your own style or creativity.

"Perhaps we can move away from the negative strain of this discussion."

As I said in my comment above, which I composed with respect to Anders, the intention isn't to cast stones, rather share my opinion on the matter, to which I believe I have the right to do. Open discussion is a beautiful and important thing, even if it's a sticky subject to address. https://wptavern.com/why-comments-still-matter