@Rea As for why people might like this kind of thing in fiction, there's a bunch of reasons but you are laser focusing on the idea of people attracted to the shota charactes in particular which is not the only demographic reading this story.
Here are some of the reasons I've heard from friends who like this kind of content:
- the child characters are not repressenting real children but a fantasy of a partner who is not a physical or social threat to the reader.
- The child characters are a disempowerment fantasy for the reader to self insert into.
- Fictional size kink tends to be limited to dominant large man x submissive small (wo)man. This leaves people with the fantasy of being (with) a big woman or small man in the lurch.
- Adult characters are free to act more 'against type' when paired with child characters like being tall but submissive or shy and anxious but powerful or tomboyish or butch women being seen as desirable by their innocent partner. These traits are considered cute and appealing instead of being seen as whiny, annoying, clingy or something that needs to be 'fixed'.
Here are some of the reasons I've heard from friends who like this kind of content:
- the child characters are not repressenting real children but a fantasy of a partner who is not a physical or social threat to the reader.
- The child characters are a disempowerment fantasy for the reader to self insert into.
- Fictional size kink tends to be limited to dominant large man x submissive small (wo)man. This leaves people with the fantasy of being (with) a big woman or small man in the lurch.
- Adult characters are free to act more 'against type' when paired with child characters like being tall but submissive or shy and anxious but powerful or tomboyish or butch women being seen as desirable by their innocent partner. These traits are considered cute and appealing instead of being seen as whiny, annoying, clingy or something that needs to be 'fixed'.