....................... "the character I thought I'd like the least became my second favorite" dude that is EXACTLY what happened with Damon for me omg!!
As I said I instantly fell for June and once all characters had been introduced in the first chapter, I thought I'd like Damon least. I love the brooding type but my initial impression of Damon was that his ONLY personality trait was the brooding and ngl, he got on my nerves at first. He came off as such an arrogant twerp TwT then when I played through his route, every chapter we learned a little something that made me more and more interested until I actually became interested in him not only as a character, but as a love interest! Props to the writers for hiding his layers so well tbh.
And I absolutely agree on Vexx being the "forbidden romance"! I'm sure the Traveler would still have some lingering affections for him but mending the relationship after Vexx has shattered their trust and caused so much pain to them seems impossible. We've seen that Vexx isn't completely himself in the last chapter but it doesn't change the fact that he was knowingly using the Traveler :/ But that's exactly why it's my favourite route! 1) I love the royalty x guard trope, 2) rebuilding the relationship from scratch after a betrayal of this scale will surely be interesting (and touching). For it to be possible their love has to be "stronger than anything", as you said!
Haha, funny coincidence!
Though our feelings about Damon for you and Cal for me were not exactly the same, it seems. I can't say I disliked anything about Calderon, I just.. didn't see anything that would attract me in him. Physically he's not my type at all, and the rude and seemingly cold guy is a hit or miss for me, as LI, and I didn't feel like it would be a hit at first. So I simply didn't care at all. But I liked him almost immediately once he appeared in game. It might seem strange to have an actual opinion after only seeing pictures of him, but I usually have a VERY strong instinct about characters, and I know from start who I'll like and who I won't. So I guess I too have to give props to the writers, since they fooled my instinct.
But I think the way I decided my traveler would be impacted things too. He's extremely sweet and wants to make friends with everyone, so he just perseveres even if someone is rude or cold at first. That sure helps with people like Calderon or Damon! Or to get through that awful post-reveal phase with June! On that topic, June isn't my type either, honestly. But I was somehow attracted to him from start, though I knew he wouldn't be my favorite.