I think it's the taboo nature in combination with it being a story behind the action. It's a plot involving a lot of emotions with minimal effort. I prefer childhood friends for that, but taboo is sexy to a lot of people. Full on incest stuff is annoyingly popular as well for some reason 🤮

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

I also read it’s an easy plot

Here’s two people, it gives us an explanation to 1) why they’re in the same area, 2) already have a strong connection/know each other

There was a third point building off the relationship thing but I forgot what it was

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's just surprisingly new. I'd bet the pandemic played a large part in it. Stepsister stuff has always been a niche, but not nearly as prevalent as it is today. I would know, I used to work in the industry.

[–] AEsheron 24 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Lol, no, that stuff was catching on at least 15 years ago, and was a massive meme before the pandemic. The "what are you doing step bro," meme is from 2018, and the industry had already gone hard in that direction for a while before that.