There's also the question of whether the characters are intended to be realistic or relatable. While I think the quote a few posts above is interesting, I feel that it's more like the author's intent vs. the audience's perception.
Since we're on this particular thread, let's consider the case of a violent/abusive erotic story. There are many reasons for writing such a story. Perhaps it is simply the author's fetish. Perhaps it is a way to deal with something in their past, or an emotion or desire they have. Perhaps they want to make a statement or start a debate about abusive relationships. Or perhaps they simply want to make the reader feel uncomfortable.
I think that unless there is a clear misunderstanding of something on the part of the reader, neither side are wrong, and even if a reader does misunderstand a message or something that the author/story is trying to convey, that still doesn't invalidate their experience. The thing about fiction as opposed to factual litterature, is that the reader's experience is pretty much the whole point, and whether that experience is what the author had in mind or not is, in the end, largely irrelevant.
Well, those are my thoughts.
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last edited at Jan 30, 2017 6:52PM