VN Ren'Py Being a DIK [v0.10.1] [DrPinkCake]

[Geralt From Rivia]

Even if Patrick is being a total dick nothing he has done is illegal. Winning a case of fraud by claiming you were too stupid to read what you signed is not going to be easy unless you can be proven to be mentally incompetent. Patrick's blackmail happened after the contract (loan agreement) was done, and people can withhold money they control from other people for any cause. Telling your daughter you don't like her girlfriend doesn't rise to the level of "domestic violence".

But let's establish that DPC is using this loan as a MacGuffin. US federal student loans don't work the way that Maya's is being portrayed. FAFSA loan money is obtained and disbursed through the school, not the student or the parent. The loan money is then applied to tuition, living expenses, fees, and other purposes allowed under the law (no, Quinn can't pay off her drug lord with hers and MC can't "borrow" from it to pay for hookers).

Also when someone cosigns a loan with you they don't get control of the assets; you do, but as the cosigner they are obligated to repay the money if you default. That's all there is to it.

However for the sake of argument let's say that Maya's loan is not a standard student loan but an unsecured loan (unlikely in the amount, but let's just pretend) in Maya's name with her dad as a cosigner since she doesn't have any credit history. Even then her dad doesn't control the money being paid out. Only if the loan was taken in his name, such as a second mortgage on his home, would he be able to control it, and Maya would not be cosigning with her dad on that since she doesn't have any credit. He might be able to control the loan money if Maya was declared legally incompetent, but then he'd still be on the hook to fully repay it plus any interest. If her dad took the money and bet it all on red in Las Vegas and lost it both his and Maya's credit would be ruined, not just hers. I don't think even Patrick is stupid enough to wreck his entire financial life over Maya wanting to go muff diving from time to time.

Patrick is not stupid, that's for sure. He thinks over his actions well in terms of how to take his daughter on the hook, how to deceive in order to make an unexpected visit. etc. But here is something else, he is insane.
At the top it is written - a narcissist, plus he has some kind of inferiority complex, obsessed with control, and with this obsession he is ready to take any measures. Added to this are extremely religious views, but perhaps they are just a front, an excuse to control Maya. Perhaps he gets moral pleasure from this, although he himself doesn't recognize it - covering it with his views. So I think yes, Patrick may well fuck up his financial well-being because of this absurdity. Let's see how the DPC will explain this situation. Or maybe he won’t explain: just accept it as a fact, in my game it works like that and that’s it.
All fraud stories are like that. You inadvertently sign a contract/ agree to give bank details to strangers/trust a call about a relative in trouble and that's it, you're being fucked financially.

 

[I'm Canadian bub]

*nods*

In the end, this was all about "what if's" Maya did this or that to get out of her predicament. I ultimately think she will fall in line about Patrick controlling her tuition money. And where her breakthrough will be, is I suspect going to be about how she finally convinces her father to let her live her personal life as she sees fit to live it. But I doubt she will get out of her financial situation.

I honestly think Maya's plot will be to establish some form of "awakening" to her father about who she is. I think the whole money thing is a "red herring".

This is the reason I haven't commented too much on the loan, DPC might just go this fucking soppy soap opera bullshit and all the research I did about co-signed loans will ultimately amount to jack shit.

Before you go down the same spiral I went down, here's the TLDR:

Co-signed loans don't work the way Maya's does.

 

[funkymonkeyjedi]

This is the reason I haven't commented too much on the loan, DPC might just go this fucking soppy soap opera bullshit and all the research I did about co-signed loans will ultimately amount to jack shit.

Before you go down the same spiral I went down, here's the TLDR:

Co-signed loans don't work the way Maya's does.

Exactly
Again why I labelled Maya a Drama queen. Because DPC wrote her that way. And it's a great way to distract readers from the actual facts.

As I pointed out, I think ultimately what will happen will be some form of family "intervention" for Patrick. And Maya's salvation will be Patrick finally accepting his daughter for who she is and finally letting her breath like a normal teenager.

 

[daxil94]

Yet that is not how it works in the US. If I cosign a loan for my daughter to buy a car, the check is made out to her and she gets to spend it. I am merely guaranteeing that the loan will be paid using my assets and credit. If she totals the car and has no insurance I am on the hook to pay for it if she doesn't pay the loan off. If I am pissed off at her and also refuse to pay the loan off both of our credits get screwed over.

What reasonably could have happened was he cosigned an unsecured loan (not a federal student loan) and got her to deposit in his personal checking account, which he solely controls. She wouldn't have access to the money unless he doled it out to her. However that's not what Maya has said at any point which is why everyone thinks that what is portrayed in the game is reality. It's not. And even then if he refused to pay the money back both of their credits would be messed up, not just Maya's.

What i understand from Maya's situation is like this:

Patrick got the loan but Maya co-signed so money deposited in Patricks account and he pays from semester to semester(maybe ?) that's why if she doesn't do what Patrick wants he can just not pay for the semester and Maya's expelled(?) from the school.

If he doesn't pay(for this he should be an idiot more than a bigot) loan is on Maya's shoulder and she has to pay it.

Thats what i understood from the game correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[daxil94]

Exactly
Again why I labelled Maya a Drama queen. Because DPC wrote her that way. And it's a great way to distract readers from the actual facts.

As I pointed out, I think ultimately what will happen will be some form of family "intervention" for Patrick. And Maya's salvation will be Patrick finally accepting his daughter for who she is and finally letting her breath like a normal teenager.

That's not the feeling i got from the guy(with little interaction) but i hope he accepts her as she is like you say so that she can be herself and trust her parents like normal children do

 

[Arctic Crusader]

While I think this is a case of either a) DPC doesn't understand how the loan process works somewhere that is not his home country or b) it's a deliberate choice for drama.

For loan choices it could be any number of things: Private Student Loan, Unsecured Loan, HELOC... also could be a Parent PLUS loan that Patrick took out which would be in his name. The loan type doesn't really matter because it just needs to function in this one specific way for the story to work: Patrick has the funds and Maya needs them to continue to go to college, therefore she is stuck.

Realistically all of this probably comes down to a combination of a and b: DPC doesn't know how it works and wrote it to cause drama for his story. He also doesn't know how hormonal birth control works so I have to gloss over that the same way.

 

[funkymonkeyjedi]

That's not the feeling i got from the guy(with little interaction) but i hope he accepts her as she is like you say so that she can be herself and trust her parents like normal children do

Agreed, but with how the throuple path is shaping up like, it would carry more of an emotional impact for her to confront her father with her brother and mother and her close friends, MC and Josy. and making him see just how she really is and to convince him that her motives aren't evil, not to mention that she's a legal adult as well. etc.

I can honestly see something like that elaborating as a story arc. There's plenty of potential with this angle. The whole money thing is a great distraction because everyone can relate to financial stress in one form or another. That's why I think that's a fantastic red herring for readers to get caught up in. And I firmly believe this is the path that DPC will take.

 

[Geralt From Rivia]

I think if there was something illegal with the documents they couldn't get the loan because it wouldn't have been approved

Yeah, another idea, what if papers are okay and main thing is blackmail.

*nods*

In the end, this was all about "what if's" Maya did this or that to get out of her predicament. I ultimately think she will fall in line about Patrick controlling her tuition money. And where her breakthrough will be, is I suspect going to be about how she finally convinces her father to let her live her personal life as she sees fit to live it. But I doubt she will get out of her financial situation.

I honestly think Maya's plot will be to establish some form of "awakening" to her father about who she is. I think the whole money thing is a "red herring".

Convince a man like Patrick?

It seems to me that he would rather agree to her death than accept that his daughter loves girls. He's fucked in the head.
I think a way out will be found if Maya finds a powerful ally in the form of Royce. People with such influence could make a difference.

Meh, so much drama with Maya and her problems, return to Zoey, Geralt, you will not regret it.

 

[funkymonkeyjedi]

Yeah, another idea, what if papers are okay and main thing is blackmail.

Convince a man like Patrick?

It seems to me that he would rather agree to her death than accept that his daughter loves girls. He's fucked in the head.
I think a way out will be found if Maya finds a powerful ally in the form of Royce. People with such influence could make a difference.

Meh, so much drama with Maya and her problems, return to Zoey, Geralt, you will not regret it.

Not saying that would be impossible.

But knowing that DPC likes to taunt the emotional side of story telling, I expect he will deliver in this VN so much more than he did in Acting Lessons, when the MC is going through the counseling sessions after the fire. BaDIk is immensely larger in content than AL, so the work-up to the emotional plot arcs is naturally taking much longer to reach.

 

[Geralt From Rivia]

Not saying that would be impossible.

But knowing that DPC likes to taunt the emotional side of story telling, I expect he will deliver in this VN so much more than he did in Acting Lessons, when the MC is going through the counseling sessions after the fire. BaDIk is immensely larger in content than AL, so the work-up to the emotional plot arcs is naturally taking much longer to reach.

It’s even hard to imagine what the endings of this game will be and how he will be able to cope with all this cargo at the end of the story.

 

[RandoCard3]

Dik route looks cool but chick route has Maya
Need I say more

Neutral Route has everyone, if you play your cards right.

 

[funkymonkeyjedi]

It’s even hard to imagine what the endings of this game will be and how he will be able to cope with all this cargo at the end of the story.

I'm scared to even imagine what his story-board looks like.
For a VN of this magnitude he's got to have a massive database of choice references. Because even if on paper, this would be hell to write out. Can you even imagine how many pages this would represent!? How does one organize all this!?

 

[Geralt From Rivia]

I'm scared to even imagine what his story-board looks like.
For a VN of this magnitude he's got to have a massive database of choice references. Because even if on paper, this would be hell to write out. Can you even imagine how many pages this would represent!? How does one organize all this!?

And two years schedule for Endgame episode development

 

[daxil94]

Yeah, another idea, what if papers are okay and main thing is blackmail.

Convince a man like Patrick?

It seems to me that he would rather agree to her death than accept that his daughter loves girls. He's fucked in the head.
I think a way out will be found if Maya finds a powerful ally in the form of Royce. People with such influence could make a difference.

Meh, so much drama with Maya and her problems, return to Zoey, Geralt, you will not regret it.

 

[funkymonkeyjedi]

And two years schedule for Endgame episode development

Let's hope DPC is on a low fat, low cholesterol and low salt diet and doesn't do drugs..
The bastard better live long enough to finish this, or I think many will want to kill him twice.
me first!

 

[Darkwen]

And two years schedule for Endgame episode development

Final episode will be a fully animated movie with Madison Beer as the voice of Josy and Kermit the Frog as Jill

 

[nuzzyfipples]

Great game. But I just don't like the situation where the MC gets mad at Josy and Maya. I feel like he is so childish.

I don't hate that he gets mad, simply because I think enough clues had been dropped to both girls by that point that they knew you'd be upset when you found out, but I will agree that he stays "mad" for too long. Even in subsequent scenes you get asked if you overreacted by various people. I think if you choose 'yes', it should resolve the squabble faster, yet for some reason you stay mad.

 

[Old Grumpy Wolf]

he stays "mad" for too long.

Is there some sort of time allotment for how long someone should stay mad, that I don't know about? Hell, I'm still mad about something that happened years ago.

 

[nuzzyfipples]

Speaking of toxic relationships, which relationship of the MC do you guys think is the most toxic? (It does not have to be one of the LIs, more in general). One that comes to my mind is the relationship with Tommy...

I don't care for Tommy, but he doesn't seem to be a truly terrible person to me, just extremely impulsive and with a very short fuse. He tends to realize he fucked up when he does, it just takes him a minute, and he tries to make up for it in his own way.

Worst relationship in my opinion would probably be Troy. Guy goes from 0 to 100 the second you meet him, and just barely lets off the gas at times.

 

[nuzzyfipples]

Is there some sort of time allotment for how long someone should stay mad, that I don't know about? Hell, I'm still mad about something that happened years ago.

Not really, but if you decide that you overreacted, it should end sooner than it does, because you clearly know by then that you shouldn't be mad, or at least upset with that particular fight. It feels like it drags on far too long to me when choosing that you've overreacted, especially because in your interactions with them after choosing that, the choices are as if you are still pissed. Then all is forgiven instantly at the party.

That particular plot thread could be fleshed out a little more, I think. It's probably the only part of the game I would "fix", plot wise.