VN Ren'Py Where the Heart Is [S1 Rev1] [CheekyGimp]

[Harlaw]

At a certain point I think we need to trust the overall thrust of the narrative we're given. Sure, technically we have no proof that Greg really is a lawyer, but by now it would hopelessly muddle the narrative to try to claim he was in on the con the whole time. Likewise, we've been told Jolina has some tech skills, but we've also been told she's not up to Jenna's level and Jenna hasn't suggested the footage could be fake. I see no reason to believe either of them could fabricate this sort of evidence out of whole cloth.

We've been told by both Greg himself and Miss Cleo that the gold digger is a very devious and cunning individual with plans on top of plans. Now I am not going full paranoid mode and doubting every piece of information we're given, so when Greg and our own lawyer tells us that the BH is definitely ours no matter what, I am choosing to believe that.

But when it comes to the gold digger, whom I firmly believe is Bella with Jolina as her associate. I am not gonna believe anything they tell me, so when she tells me there is a chance that the MC's mother might not have been his mother or that he might have a half brother, I am calling BS on that.

 

[voyeurkind]

both Bella, directly, and Jolina, indirectly, are aiming hard at the beach house, which could be tied to the condition of either of them. better to take a third of the money than to take nothing by aiming at half the nest egg

Maybe there's something of great value hidden/buried at the beach house (like Donald's Swiss Bank account ledgers) that the third party knows about.

 

[ramvivat]

Maybe there's something of great value hidden/buried at the beach house (like Donald's Swiss Bank account ledgers) that the third party knows about.

and this is an interesting version. sand is easy to dig. and the place where it is buried does not stand out, unlike the soil - if you dig a hole in ordinary soil, you have to wait a very long time until the traces of the excavation hide in a natural way. and the sand - unearthed and buried and leveled. and you can't see anything right now.

 

[felicemastronzo]

Maybe there's something of great value hidden/buried at the beach house (like Donald's Swiss Bank account ledgers) that the third party knows about.

we know that in general conditions are quite personalized, so the third gold digger's must also be something personal, not impossible at all, but very complicated for her.

so I don't think it may be so much what's in the beach house, but what that represents to her

 

[ramvivat]

Bella with Jolina

O_O Jo... Jolina? *jaw dropped on the floor*
but how? *shocked*
and .. to hell, who am I kidding - women lead me by the nose in life and with the nose and leave ... because I don’t see anything beyond my nose in relation to women ... so I was fascinated by Jolina that I did not think of her ...
*sigh* okay, let's start thinking soberly, without musi-pusi ...

So, Jolina sent the first bait letter to Monica's house - from her coffee shop. the coffee shop was a front and a place to "charm" the MC. and the apartment itself was most likely rented.

uh, if only I could talk to that guy who was hanging around the coffee shop... he might have something interesting to say about Jolina. He must have noticed something. maybe even suggested when the "wheels started spinning" - when a coffee shop showed up in that area.

but how well did the bankruptcy of the business coincide with the announcement of the will of the Father? =)

 

[ramvivat]

and it seems that I know what to look for in the sand - a small box in which there will be a piece of paper with a login and password to an account in a bank from which the trust takes out money in monthly payments. because it makes no sense to store gold in the sand. and payments can be debited from a bank account when invoices arrive, and the bank must make payments on invoices. well, maybe not a piece of paper, but for example a plastic card, because it will not rot from dampness.

it is not necessary to bury a plastic card - it is enough to hide it in the house itself. just hide in a slit. because the girls tried to get into the house and not roam around. for at night in the rain when the rain drowns out the sounds - to come and dig something - a couple of trifles. no one will hear anything. means hidden in the house. and the poor victims of the arbitrariness of the authorities and relatives showed up at the house.

 

[Geralt_R]

So, Jolina sent the first bait letter to Monica's house - from her coffee shop. the coffee shop was a front and a place to "charm" the MC. and the apartment itself was most likely rented.

Remember that various people received emails, not just Monica. Again, why do that if you want to ruin the MC's chances of getting the money? Someone who has this plan would not send emails to other people as well, and instead only sweet talk Monica so she contacts the MC and lets him stay. The risk is much too high that any of the other recipients of the email might let the MC stay at their house... thus preventing the MC from ever meeting Monica and the girls again. And this would mean the MC gets his money.

I find it more likely that the emails are part of Elaine's scheme, whatever that may be. She says she didn't know about her will conditions when she urged the MC to leave the house. But maybe she still wanted to make sure he has at least a place to stay. Or maybe it's something else. Doesn't matter, point is, if Bella and/or Jolina had a plan to bring MC and Monica + girls together... they would never ever have sent emails to other people as well. Monica would have been the only recipient.

If Jolina is part of any plan she's doing a very lousy job. If she needs to get close to the MC for whatever reason... why reject him so harshly at first, risking that the MC will be thoroughly discouraged? If she needs to make sure the MC gets close to Monica and family to ruin his chances of getting the money... why send emails to lots of other people? And even more so, why even get romantically involved with the MC? This runs a high risk of the MC going exclusively for Jolina or maybe Bella, thus making sure he DOES get money. I don't see any real motivation for Jolina to want to screw over the MC based on what she does in the game. She certainly has some skeletons in the closet. But if she either is Dizzy or involved with Dizzy I would be disappointed, since, in my opinion, that would feel very far fetched based on her behavior. I am pretty certain she didn't write the emails, I am also convinced her plan can't be to get involved with the MC, she would have been a lot nicer when he asks her out for the first time, instead of brutally shooting him down.

And the other idea suggested here... there's something buried on the beach etc... sounds a bit anticlimactic, as was pointed out, the will conditions seem to be something that annoy or piss off the heirs, or at least is something that is very difficult for them to pull off and comes at a personal cost. You could always sneak onto the beach, surveillance or not, and just quickly dig a hole - there is no need for elaborate schemes to get the MC to let either Bella and/or Jolina to stay there.

 

[ramvivat]

I find it more likely that the emails are part of Elaine's scheme

everything would be fine but a strange coincidence - the announcement of the will of the Father and almost immediately Jolin "bankrupt".
perhaps there is that connection that it is already meaningless to keep an enterprise (coffee shop).
the fool (that is, the main character) is charmed and will easily let the one, who will destroy him (financially), into the house - which is all that is required. and on the contrary, the predicament of a woman, what is not a balm for the wounded soul of an charmed fool who is about to be left in his miserable beach house with a nose?

there may be another option that Bella found out about Jolina (how? I don’t know) and ran, if not to save, then make it difficult for Jolina to search by her presence in the house, because the "fool" is charmed, and does not see beyond his own nose.

 

[ramvivat]

You could always sneak onto the beach, surveillance or not, and just quickly dig a hole

yes, I refuted this version, suggesting that the plastic card with the login and password is in the house. and nowhere else. because the whole beach can be rummaged while the "fool" is not around. for example, deliberately diverting him to the city under a far-fetched pretext. and even lure him to Father's house - anywhere, as long as it is away from the beach house. the beach house itself is probably on alarm and the intrusion will be stopped by security. and on the beach, if you really need it, you can sail by boat. and the guards will not even know anything if there is no break into the house itself and the alarm does not work.

no, "treasure" is not digged in the beach. "treasure" is in beach house.

 

[Geralt_R]

what is not a balm for the wounded soul of an charmed fool who is about to be left in his miserable beach house with a nose

It doesn't make sense at all for Jolina to get close to the MC if her goal is to ruin him, she should do her very best to drive him into the arms of Monica and the girls. Jolina is anything but unattractive, the risk that the MC will fall head over heels for her is way too high. And again, sending emails to several people is extremely stupid if there is a plan to get him close to Monica and the girls.

Also, a will condition that merely says "make the MC have you stay in the beach house" is entirely boring, in my opinion. All the other will conditions seem to require some personal sacrifice or major annoyance. Why would Dizzy's condition be so different from the others?

A treasure in the beach house makes no sense. What kind of anticlimactic will condition is that? A tech savvy Jolina may even find ways to fool the security system and just break into the house. It stood empty for a long time, there is no real need to get the MC to let anyone stay inside the house.

Also, the MC actually works at the coffee shop and can see that it is indeed getting no customers, so the bankrupty does seem real. And why risk so much money to begin with? Jolina would need to be quite rich to be able to burn so much money on some scheme that she actively sabotages. Monica + the girls? She gets SO close to the MC that he might leave everyone and choose her. Make him fall in love as part of her will condition... why crush his advances when he first wants to go on a date?

 

[Combat Wombat]

I have a few new theories.

The librarian, that is one shady lady!! How she insults poor lily. There's definitely some shenanigans afoot with her, you never know the mcs dad could of fancied himself some gilf

These next 2 refer to "Dizzy".

A guest appearance from Dizzy Reed, the keyboardist from guns and roses. Dude was into some shit back in the day.

My final theory, is dependent on how deep the devs decided to take it because the name "Dizzy" actually comes from old english meaning wanted child and it was a term used after a previous disappointment and we already know that the mc and his dad did not get on so maybe there is a sibling to the mc and they are the third heir

 

[Vannhh]

everything would be fine but a strange coincidence - the announcement of the will of the Father and almost immediately Jolin "bankrupt".
perhaps there is that connection that it is already meaningless to keep an enterprise (coffee shop).
the fool (that is, the main character) is charmed and will easily let the one, who will destroy him (financially), into the house - which is all that is required. and on the contrary, the predicament of a woman, what is not a balm for the wounded soul of an charmed fool who is about to be left in his miserable beach house with a nose?

there may be another option that Bella found out about Jolina (how? I don’t know) and ran, if not to save, then make it difficult for Jolina to search by her presence in the house, because the "fool" is charmed, and does not see beyond his own nose.

Hmmm interesting.

My theory? Bella is Dizzy.
She is just waaaaay too hard up to get the D for there not to be shenanigans. I rejected her, and when she and Jolina meets its immediately a catfight. Yeah..

Also MC not getting hold of Elaine because of her phone, but the security company said she was looking for him at the beachhouse. This just before Bella pitched up to spill the supposed beans? Yeah nah. I'm thinking Elaine got something on Bella and was then trying to warn him.

I think Elaine is playing a con, but I think she wants the entire inheritance to give it all, or most of it, up to MC. Remember she said everything will be alright and she wants to help, you just have to trust her. Not to mention MCs dads voice message confirmed he pressured her to be a dick to you as well as her terms. So you get both Monica and Co, plus the inheritance via Elaine.

 

[BillyPlums]

I keep going back to the early days of the game to see if there is anything there that makes it clearer (no, if you are wondering). I note the following for your amusement.
The first time you get a chance to check your email is in the evening of the first day. The walkthrough doesn't even suggest that you check it. Why, because there is nothing on the phone. And yet you and Monica have connected through the mysterious email that she got that you didn't send.
The next time you get a chance to check emails, it's the morning of the next day, I believe. And there are emails from friends saying that they don't have the space to have you come live there. So Monica is at least a day quicker to respond than anyone else, and everyone (I should capitalize that) else responds within a 12 hour period.
Now, it's possible, even probable that everything there is on the up and up, but (put your tinfoil hats on now guys) what if someone (Elaine or Bella) having access to the MCs phone sent one and only one email to Monica. Then, after Jenna hears that MC didn't send the email, and she, being the hacker she is, hacks MCs phone with fake incoming messages from some of his contacts saying that there is no room at their place.
This sort of ensures that the MC will stay connected to Monica and the girls which is a plus for Jenna.
This is, of course, not completely thought out and probably a non-starter in terms of what really happened, so feel free to hack it to pieces. It won't upset me in the least.

 

[lordofhirunds]

And if by chance Elaine were to fulfill the obligations of the will so that she could kick Mc out of the house and have the house gifted to her, all to get her share of the inheritance and for Mc to have the weakness to go to Monica( friend of Mc's mother and Donald's enemy) and still gift the house to Elaine and thus lose part of the inheritance.
Bella has to entice Mc to turn against Elaine and thus make him not give her the house and in the meantime send Mc into Monica's arms and thus make Elaine eMC out of the inheritance.
Now we have assumed that Bella and Jolina know each other and are accomplices all on the basis of a photo that we do not know whether taken in Elaine's house or just a fallback by Cheeky to catch up .
If Jo is Bella's friend and accomplice then the video of Elaine near her café was a trap.
If Jo on the other hand is the golddigger then we will find her again at the reading of the will but I do not believe this hypothesis.
Mine are just midsummer night fantasies.

 

[felicemastronzo]

It doesn't make sense at all for Jolina to get close to the MC if her goal is to ruin him, she should do her very best to drive him into the arms of Monica and the girls. Jolina is anything but unattractive, the risk that the MC will fall head over heels for her is way too high. And again, sending emails to several people is extremely stupid if there is a plan to get him close to Monica and the girls.

Also, a will condition that merely says "make the MC have you stay in the beach house" is entirely boring, in my opinion. All the other will conditions seem to require some personal sacrifice or major annoyance. Why would Dizzy's condition be so different from the others?

A treasure in the beach house makes no sense. What kind of anticlimactic will condition is that? A tech savvy Jolina may even find ways to fool the security system and just break into the house. It stood empty for a long time, there is no real need to get the MC to let anyone stay inside the house.

Also, the MC actually works at the coffee shop and can see that it is indeed getting no customers, so the bankrupty does seem real. And why risk so much money to begin with? Jolina would need to be quite rich to be able to burn so much money on some scheme that she actively sabotages. Monica + the girls? She gets SO close to the MC that he might leave everyone and choose her. Make him fall in love as part of her will condition... why crush his advances when he first wants to go on a date?

you continue to put the luxury of obstructing MC ahead of the need to reach her own terms of the will.

if MC's friendship or trust could help Jolina or whoever for her to reach her own third of the inheritance, why should she give it up? for the chimera of being able to get half?

Elaine is also on the hook for the inheritance, yet she badmouths Monica and doesn't shy away from being seduced by MC, apparently because somehow she needs the house, and to get it she needs MC to be on her side

also in my opinion simply staying at the beach house may not be the condition itself, but it may be a necessary step to achieve the condition, which could also be simply making Mc lose all faith in love, which would be quite in Donald's wheelhouse, but in general any condition involving MC would push the third heir to stay as close to him as possible, even in a love affair if the opportunity arose.

 

[acewinz]

Hehe. Love watching you guys theorize. Plenty of you are very much on the right track, and some are so far off I think our little diversion tactics have made you a bit too paranoid.

However the cookie crumbles, I'm curious what you guys want/intend when the gold digger is unmasked? Do you want vengeance? If they wound up in your romance pool do you want to try and make it work? Do you think they could somehow be justified in their own way for the things they have done? Does it matter if so to your cold unfeeling heart?

 

[felicemastronzo]

Hehe. Love watching you guys theorize. Plenty of you are very much on the right track, and some are so far off I think our little diversion tactics have made you a bit too paranoid.

However the cookie crumbles, I'm curious what you guys want/intend when the gold digger is unmasked? Do you want vengeance? If they wound up in your romance pool do you want to try and make it work? Do you think they could somehow be justified in their own way for the things they have done? Does it matter if so to your cold unfeeling heart?

I still expect to be able to choose whether to forgive or not, but in general and especially if we were in a relationship with the gold digger I expect a confession like "I started it for the money but then I did it because of how I feel about you"

but Lily isn't anyway so for me it's purely a theoretical problem

 

[matschbirne]

my answer:

Spoiler

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[alex13_zen]

If we're talking about indulging our cold unfeeling heart, I'd like to see Katie crying heartbroken when we leave her for the money. I'm still holding a grudge since she first insisted we're only friends with benefits and then completely turned around and wants you all for herself.
I still love her though, she's a great character.

 

[NotNeeded!]

Probably not, a lot of Daz models have some default settings that can look alike unless you tweak them. IIRC Intertwined also used Katie's base model for one char. Just something you get used to with Daz. Just like you can find Jolina's base in other games, and especially the "Mom/Landlady" from Dreams of Desire (she is everywhere!) Haha, and Perv's Tales from the Unending Void had their Purple Futa Alien (a side villian, not the one that joins you) come out looking like Elaine (at least above the waist), and as far as I am aware it was just a fluke.

We try to do a lot to make our models unique, but there is only so many assets and variations you can combine if your putting them together like a Mr. Potato Head.

Thankfully we have Cell now and he is one of the best character creators out there IMHO.

Thank you and everyone else who took the time to share their thoughts, I appreciated it. Learned a little bit.