The Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction, its purpose is to entertain and edify by exploring possible scenarios in an immersive way. It is not intended to be a model of acceptible behaviour; depiction is not endorsement.
Be prepared to encounter fantasies (scenarios that are fun to think about, but may feel bad to experience in reality), satire (depicting a viewpoint in such a way that the flaws are readily apparent), allegory (a scenario that maps onto a topic by way of extended metaphor) and other non-literal techniques.
Stunts have been performed by trained fictional characters on a closed course. Do not try this at home. No animals where harmed in the making of this motion picture.
The Rationale
Soo, as you probably can tell, I've had some bad experience in my years writing online stories with people who either does not understand the nature of fiction or are trying very hard to pretend like they don't.
Even the most basic facts about the medium seem to be a source of confusion, like how if I write a story in first person, ”I” is not in fact me, or even a fictionalized version of me, and their opinions are not mine.
When I write a story, I'm imagining how a fictional person with a particular personality would think, act and feel in a given scenario. Fiction is not a biography.
On the flipside, there are people who vehemently denies fiction has any meaning beyond a recounting of fictional people and fictional scenarios. If the first group of people mistake stories for a biography, the secound group mistake them for a histriography. They are more concerned with having the story make internal sense than they are about what message the story is trying to convey.
Every story was created by an author for a reason and convey something about their worldview. Often that reason is just "I want to make money!", "I want to entertain!" or "I'm really horny!" and the story simply reveals what the author think is profitable, entertaining or sexy. But there's a perspective there that can be analyzed and critiqued.
There’s also a third group that’s seemingly only familiar with literary fiction and have trouble with the more indulgent side of fiction. This is I imagine these are the people who genuinely think ”business casual” is how people dress when they are safely at home with no one else around. Fantasies are a way to deal with conflicting emotions. It could be a thing you want that you can’t have, or something that you know would be bad, but you can’t help but wonder what it’s like. Fantasies are complicated because humans are complicated, and fiction as a medium is extremely suited to explore that complexity. That includes the nasty part down there in the id we have to keep in check to be functioning members of society. This is the part of storytelling that make a lot of moral guardians nervous, because their sense of normalicy relies on everyone collectivelly agreeing not to discuss the harier parts of the human psyche. Here’s the thing though, the madwoman in the attic that you politely fail to bring up during your fancy dinner parties? You still gotta feed her. Toss her a scrap every now and then to keep her quiet. When people fail to acknowledge their darker desires, what typically happen is they find and outlet for them in more insidious ways. It is worth noting that every single group who want to surpress sadistic fantasies also have a category of people they consider fair game to harass. The sinners, the perverts, the bad people with bad desires whose suffering is just and righteous. So don’t mind your own business, hurting no one and thinking your own thoughts, join US instead and we’ll tell you who to hurt. In practice, I believe most people understand the line between reality and fantasy, most of these ”misunderstandings” are not because people don’t ”get” fiction, but because they don’t get people. They imagine there’s a line between reasonable people such as themselves and the bad people who need to be surpressed and controlled and there just isn’t any. All humans are complex and conflicted and need to navigate some incredibly difficult emotions. And fiction is a map, not a set of instructions. It doesn’t tell you where to go, not directly, but it can help you get the lay of the land. The map is not the territory.