imagine if Barcus was a romanceable character and you could insert your Tav INTO the Barcus/Wulbren drama... ppl would be hating Wulbren even more than they do, he's sooo mean to their beloved etc; but there would be reactionaries who would be PRO Wulbren with the defense of "He did what he had to do, you just hate him because Barcus gives him attention and you're jealous of him" ... I think there would also be a woobification of Barcus playing into this on both sides that would be so painful
and maybe there would be a third party of fandom that accuses Tav of coming between them, like "u don't understand what wroongle (barcben? wulcus?) could be, they have a history, larian shouldn't let Tav just decide how to handle their friendship issues, it's unethical to romance Barcus and make him lose his friendship with Wulbren instead of fixing it," etc. sigh. so much potential for all those 'bg3 bad opinions' or whatever blogs.