I'd like to preface this by saying I'm a gay guy and a fudanshi so by definition I'm NOT the target audience for otome games and fully recognize that, I'm just here for the fun ride and being a wingman to my girls while thinking "whoa she's getting such a handsome boyfriend, luckyyy" for the most part. My opinions here aren't meant to be taken as "this is how the genre should be" since as far as I'm positioned I'm like a tourist visiting another place and saying hi while learning the local culture.
While I can admit that I personally wouldn't be bothered by BL bait in an otoge in the moment, I do think that it feels kind of cheap, especially when taking a step back and thinking more about it. I wouldn't really care if it involves side characters who aren't romantically involved with the main cast—gay people exist and it's nice having some mentions here and there that we exist lmao—but it would defeat the purpose of an otome game if it involves the LIs.
On one hand, it muddies the waters when it comes to genre delimitations, and god knows those are already a swamp when you take into account the fact that western fandom people especially can't tell a damn difference between otome games and joseimuke games lmfao. But at the same time, it feels kind of disappointing and like a slap to the face if you go in having clear expectations because of the genre tag.
When I play a BL game, I don't expect to be flashbanged by a hetero sex scene. Maybe mentions of a LI having a previous relationship with a woman, since a common trope in BL is the "straight guy who's gay only for one guy," (because clearly bisexuals are strange mythical creatures) trope, but if I get baja blasted by Mister Dude balls deep into a woman (forgive my crass language) then uh... no. Not what I signed up for! I'd at least appreciate a warning about there being bisexual action so I can get prepared.
So I understand people's frustration on this thread since, from what I gathered, it's kind of a similar experience but flipped.
If I play an otome game, I'm signing up for romance between a man and a woman. Even if I already mentioned I wouldn't mind some BL bait in the moment, in the long run it'd feel awkward to have the main action be interrupted by, say, the LIs flirting with each other constantly or male side characters having their moment with the LIs like "I love him what should I do" like homie needs the MC to sit in the audience or something while he tries his shot with the LI you're gunning for. It stings from a player's perspective, and also because you know that subplot is meant to go moot because the point of an otome game is the boy/girl romance anyway.
Plus, I think it'd bother me if writers took so much time developing the relationships between the men in their cast to the point where the MC is just mostly an afterthought.
Kind of reminds me of how some shounen mangaka are so misogynistic they happen to write better BL bait than they write compelling relationships between men and women [insert reheated Light Yagami or Narusasu joke here]. Very funny to see in the moment, but also feels utterly miserable when you stop for a sec and realize why things are like that.
As for the topic of fujos themselves... eh. I have my own opinions. I kind of dislike the idea brought up here that they "invade" spaces, but if you think about the loud minority then it can come across that way, yeah. Lots of self-proclaimed fujos out there farting higher than their own butts because they're into gay men doing it, and lots of people who claim to care about gay people & act all high and mighty about Genres of Gay Media, but who actually don't care about supporting gay media because they're too obsessed thinking about their mid shounen ships getting it on. "I love to be baited by shounen manga and losing at chess to a dog but I would NEVER buy a Yucky BL manga! Geicomi? Never heard of that!" type of shit, in my experience.
I think it's funny that Blue Lock was mentioned here btw because I've witnessed both the above phenomenon and an interesting phenomenon where you have people who say they LOVE women and yuri, but when you look at their account the only yuri-related thing they talk about is nyota yuri of blue lock ships. Like man, that manga's fanbase truly is poser central, huh? But that's besides the point of the thread.
Sorry this was super long but this is a very interesting thread to me so I had to yap for a bit.
Tell me if there's another otome hit now... 
like all in this thread and laugh all you want, I never like fucking otome games really xD
