MrFriendly and
SuperWriter this whole conversation has been really interesting because I never saw Torry as anything but someone trying to help. Help herself, yeah, but help MC too. I think people got so focused on MC's trauma, that they forgot that in order to qualify for the trials, Torry had to have trauma of her own.
She's just as damaged as MC, but we just didn't know how yet.
And MC's back was against the wall. Even if there was an option to walk away during the "robbery", where would that have left MC? Exactly where he started with his father in pain. Stealing the drugs was the only way to help his dad.
And even if there was an option to not go for the trials with Torry, where would that have left MC? Worse than where he started because now he was unemployed and can't afford the nurse or the future treatment. Going for the trials was the only way to help his dad.
Turning Torry down at both of these opportunities would have led to a truly bleak game as MC watches helplessly as his father suffered and then died.
I totally understand the desire for the rewrite because HfC is like one of the darker episodes of Black Mirror (White Bear) and if that's not the feeling you were going for, like if you are aiming for a San Junipero type episode, then rewriting it into JaB will make it easier to handle.
I'm eagerly awaiting what it evolves into.