RFR Special Episode - Fanfiction Hypotheticals

If there's one thing we love more than actual fanfiction, it's navel-gazing about what does and does not count as fanfiction. If fanfiction is using other peoples' material without permission, who is allowed to give that permission? The author? The rights-holders? Your child self? The reincarnation of William Shakespeare? The fictional character Sephiroth, speaking to you from another dimension? Does it matter if I was raised on a fanfiction commune? One thing's for sure: our answers will be comprehensive and authoritative, and we will not hedge in the slightest. We promise.