The continuation of the Emma conversation didn't improve.
That's just such a complete load of horse crap. He could have chosen not to be bullied because he was a guy? No. And his responding that her statement having been true, even in the past, absolutely trivializes the abuse suffered by people who were bullied.
Something about Emma's family history makes MC's mother accept her child being bullied by them without even comforting her child with knowledge that there were reasons for the bullying, letting MC know Emma apologized to her, or that Emma cared for MC.
These two sentences are doing a *lot* of heaving lifting and they are not up to the job. There needs to be more.
I can *almost* buy Emma contacting MC's mother and apologizing for the way they were bulling MC *while* they were bullying MC. That kind of fits with Emma's sociopath suppression of her emotions because of her underling relationship with Aine.
But a mother not letting her son know any of this? A mother who's not putting an end to that bullying, or confronting those bullying her child, even if it meant taking time off from her job to go do it?
You're far beyond my suspension of disbelief here. You need some, even paper thin, reason why MC's mother let that bullying continue. There is nothing in this to explain why mom is in any way on board here and isn't just, at best, neutral toward Emma. Nothing in the current script gives reason for her to support Emma's crush on MC.
In comparison the Gwen reveal was almost plausible.
Jumping from walking in on Aine in the bathroom to being dressed and at work was... weird.
Work scenes good...
Sky's conversation with Aine though and having these thoughts?
Until this scene with Aine and Sky I didn't read any indication she knew these three were the ones he was being bullied by back in high school.
There should have been a conversation between Sky and MC scene where he identifies that these three are the bullies he talked about from High School. Where he has to reassure her that he's okay with the former bullies moving in or at least that MC is cautiously willing to see how things go. We know why MC isn't bringing up the past, but why isn't Sky? I would have expected her to at least say something like "You really hurt him in the past. He's let that go and so I'm doing the same, but if you hurt him again you're gone. No third chances." A conversation with MC would clear up why she's not doing that.
Overall, the deeper we get into this the more I lean toward the conclusion:
The MC wasn't actually bullied by these three. He was the fat kid that that became a picked on sidekick to the trio. He clung to the edges of the popular girls crew because a) he had a crush on the most popular one and b) they allowed him to hang out with/near them. The flashbacks don't even portray him as being that fat. No where near the size that the previous text lead me to envision
You don't offer comforting head pats to someone who's bullying you.
If I come at it from that perspective the MC's reactions become a lot more plausible and reasonable. I still wouldn't want to get into a romantic relationship with any of them without lots more explanation of the past and proof of growth on their parts, but at least sexual fun doesn't prompt the response "I wouldn't even touch them with a 10 foot pole" reaction after this update.
