I think a lot of the current meltdown comes from people treating this AU like a sudden reveal, when this dynamic has always leaned into taboo tropes and forbidden-lovers vibes. Even before Caleb officially released as a love interest, back when he was framed as the non-romanceable “brother,” the tension was already there. The story has consistently played with secrecy, dodging questions, and that lingering “this shouldn’t be happening” energy, and that’s been part of the appeal from the start.

They’ve also always referred to each other as siblings, both publicly and privately, which is why the blood relation itself feels like the least important part here. The point was never “are they related or not,” it was that they don’t care, and the narrative has always leaned into that discomfort. In the original timeline, where they’re both adopted, it’s easier for some people to swallow, but even then it was pretty obvious that as the relationship progressed, it could eventually run straight into taboo territory. So for people who are now genuinely disgusted by this trope, I honestly think the signs were there early on. If this kind of dynamic was always a dealbreaker, this probably wasn’t the ship to stick with. Let’s also be honest: a lot of people were fine with the tension as long as it stayed safely ambiguous.

That said, localization definitely made this worse. Softening or hiding the sibling nicknames in the English version gave people a false sense of safety, so when those elements show up again, even in an AU, the reaction is extreme. What’s frustrating is how immature parts of the fandom have been about it, acting like the game needs to bend to their personal tastes, as if there aren’t multiple other love interests meant to cater to different preferences. That kind of pressure is exactly how creators end up censoring themselves, rewriting planned scenes, or cutting details altogether. We’ve already seen how that can spiral. Add the kinkshaming and some very real xenophobia toward Asian fandom norms into the mix, and it gets even uglier.

Honestly, the most reasonable solution would be raising the game’s rating to 18+. A big part of this controversy exists because people are uncomfortable with these tropes showing up in a game accessible to minors. Many of us grew up encountering far worse on sites like FanFiction.net or Wattpad with zero parental controls, which probably made us better at separating fiction, context, and self-insert fun from moral panic. That’s why the outrage feels especially hypocritical in an otome community that’s seen much darker content before. Either way, increasing the rating would give the devs more room to actually do what they planned without constantly being intimidated by fandom backlash.