@John ******
I double checked - the docs say 'current location - your current location is a country in which you remain at the time that you lodge an application' - which, it's a bit wonky English but I interpret that to be "where you are at that exact minute when you click 'submit'" ( and it would be ridiculous to expect someone forcibly stay somewhere until such time as you get the visa result back so my scenario would apply.)
i said 'fake' hotel bookings in the sense that you can "buy" them (and pick 'pay at the property/full refund) with the very real awareness that visa officers _know_ you will cancel them if you are denied. What does it show at all to the powers deciding, when they know people will do this? it's pointless paperwork that (in my head) helps evaluate nothing about an application.
Part of it also stems from experience traveling (I've applied 4 times so far for Schengen). I travel very last minute on a whim and mostly without plans beyond the first week or two. For Schengen specifically I have no idea where I would be 1 month (usually out of 3) into a trip. So I pick 'whatever hotels' for the paperwork, and later if approved, spend the actual time making more concrete plans. History has shown me they don't care/makes no difference what my "true intentions" were behind the hotel printouts provided to the visa office staff. For all they care (and they don't), plans changed. But I saved time having to forcibly plan for a 3 month trip day by day.
As far as onward tickets (return tickets), it's common for long term stayers who have no actual day to leave, or the digital nomad crowd, who aren't specific about when to leave any country, to use these. If you ever travel long term I'm sure you would use them. Lots of people do it, and even the airline themselves accept it, as I've literally bought an onward ticket at the counter and showed it to the staff. Again, pointless paperwork check in my mind. It is not an issue of liability as if you were denied entry into the country it's not like you can use your return ticket for a specific date, to return/go elsewhere.
But to your question, as I said, I did not want to have to (maybe) schedule an appointment, find out where it is, go wait in line, return 2 days later, deal with potentially onerous document requirements (such as someone shared about the China Thai consulate). And, I had done this before for a tourist visa so, in my head it's not a huge risk as some others make it to be. It was 15 minutes to apply online (being it's 90% the same as a regular tourist visa), vs the alternative of hours.
I do not mean to come across as a wordage dump, merely perhaps explaining (even to myself, about my apparent flexible ethical compass lol) in a bit detail that I think there's just so many rules put in place and nobody (and I mean that from the visa office's side) really follow them as assiduously as we think. Perhaps it comes from many years of experience going through the visas in Thailand and elsewhere, It's all pointless paper pushing.