VN Ren'Py Where the Heart Is [S1 v2024-07-10 BETA] [CheekyGimp]

[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.

 

[Geralt_R]

I'm curious what you guys want/intend when the gold digger is unmasked? Do you want vengeance?

I think there should be a redemption option. Maybe Dizzy was so swayed by the MCs irresistable charms that she comes around and rethinks her life choices. I am not out for vengeance at all, I'd merely like to know why Dizzy did what she did and how she can live with herself after all that.

I myself would be much more forgiving with Jolina... Bella, that depends a lot on execution, still no vengeance though. There would be a chance I forgive her, at worst I would stop all contact and let her be. I mean, you can even forgive Elaine and what she did, not knowing her true motivations, is pretty nasty as well.

In a "money doesn't matter, Katie/Jenna/Monica matter" playthrough the entire thing is but a curiosity anyway. But still, I feel giving the player the choice to either forgive Dizzy or to plan revenge is the way to go... as well as telling her to go to hell, letting her keep the money without any revenge plans, telling her to be happy with 15 million while she's all alone, money can't buy you love as John Lennon said.

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

Yeah yeah, and then Lily is the Manchurian Candiate I hope not of course! I would assume Monica, Katie, Jenna, Debbie and Lily are 100% safe choices.

 

[blobbo66]

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?

The only 2 I care about is Katie and Jenna, if it is either of them then as long as I have the choice to forgive them then I will as long as we can live happily ever after. Anyone else can burn in hell for all I care, don't care who it is haha. But seriously though i dont care about the house or the money, i want my mc to spend the rest of his days with Katie, Jenna and Monica so i probably would forgive whoever it is because at the end of the day my mc got what he wanted.

 

[blobbo66]

Ask me again after EP 23.

With all these theories floating about I'm beginning to second guess your meaning behind this.....originally i thought that you'd just like a reminder or something like that for a future episode because you probably get story requests a lot. Now however I'm thinking that you may have said that because something may happen in episode 23 to make me want to change my mind in which case that would indicate that Katie/Jenna may be involved somehow GODDAMNIT!!!! Most of my theories are jokes, theres only a few genuine ones but i really hope we get answers in 23 coz this in so suspenseful haha. I cant speak for anyone else but i for one have been racking my brain trying to figure this out, now that don't happen a lot, I don't normally put this much thought into things so fair play to you devs for making this so gripping and enticing. I'm really looking forward to how the story develops not just for 23 but future episodes as well.

 

[BillyPlums]

... stuff ...

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?

Most of my curiosity about the gold digger (and the inheritance money) is intellectual. However, if any of Monica, Katie or Jenna show up at the lawyer's office as claimants, I will quit the game and never play it again. No hard feelings, guys, but you set this up as Monica and the girls or the money. If they've been fucking with me, I'm gone.
What I really don't want to see is a scenario where who you are romancing affects the gold digger. i.e If you are romancing Elaine then (say) Bella is the bad guy, whereas if you are romancing Bella then (say) Elaine is the bad guy. That would also leave a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[BeingADikDik]

Just give us what we all want: Francois as the gold digger. Ep. 23 reveals that 'Transcois' used to be Francine, Elaine and Bella's sister-in-law and MC's long lost aunt.

 

[Geralt_R]

that Katie/Jenna may be involved somehow

If it's Katie I will wipe my hard drive, overwrite all blocks 100 times with "0" and then have my memory of the game wiped by a hypnotist so I forget about this game until the day I die. Jenna I can kind of see how she may be involuntarily involved as a pawn (so still mostly innocent)... but Katie?!?!?? Never ever ever! That would be completely random and silly!

However, if any of Monica, Katie or Jenna show up at the lawyer's office as claimants, I will quit the game and never play it again.

Exactly! But I can't see it happening, if the writer has any plans that make sense.

 

[ename144]

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'm curious as to what you expect me to want revenge for? Maybe we'll learn something new in Episode 23, but AFAWK the gold digger isn't the one who denied the MC his inheritance; depending on your point of view, that was either Donald or the MC himself. The GD might be trying to get the MC's money, but (unless the will conditions we've learned are false) her efforts haven't done much to thwart us. We still get to make the final choice ourselves: Monica (et al) or the money. If it bothers me that the GD gets her money when the MC doesn't, that seems more like resentment than vengeance.

Now it's entirely possible there's more we don't know about yet. Maybe the GD has been more successful screwing over Elaine and Elaine really would have helped the MC out if she'd been given the chance. And maybe the GD has plans to trick the MC into seeing Monica and the girls if he tries to pick the money. Those would be things that might warrant revenge. Likewise, if it turns out that Elaine didn't need my help to keep the house and just wanted some cheap real estate, I shall be very put out. The problem is that I can't plan revenge against those slights until I actually know about them.

So the question feels a little premature to me. As of right now, my intention when the gold digger is unmasked to is to understand what the hell has been going on. Anything else must wait for that first step to complete.

With all these theories floating about I'm beginning to second guess your meaning behind this.....originally i thought that you'd just like a reminder or something like that for a future episode because you probably get story requests a lot. Now however I'm thinking that you may have said that because something may happen in episode 23 to make me want to change my mind in which case that would indicate that Katie/Jenna may be involved somehow GODDAMNIT!!!! Most of my theories are jokes, theres only a few genuine ones but i really hope we get answers in 23 coz this in so suspenseful haha. I cant speak for anyone else but i for one have been racking my brain trying to figure this out, now that don't happen a lot, I don't normally put this much thought into things so fair play to you devs for making this so gripping and enticing. I'm really looking forward to how the story develops not just for 23 but future episodes as well.

My guess is we'll have a chance to talk to Jenna and get her to agree to 'share' the MC with Katie (i.e. the two girls won't get within a Patreon of each other but they'll let the MC sleep with the both of them). We may have to wait an additional episode to get Katie to agree, and we'll have to play all our cards right to make it work, but I suspect that's a deal people would be happy to accept.

 

[acewinz]

What I really don't want to see is a scenario where who you are romancing affects the gold digger. i.e If you are romancing Elaine then (say) Bella is the bad guy, whereas if you are romancing Bella then (say) Elaine is the bad guy. That would also leave a bad taste in my mouth.

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[BillyPlums]

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Oh, I have every confidence that you guys could pull it off it you wanted to. I am just glad that you didn't want to. In fact, now that I think about it, I recall you stating earlier that the gold digger has always been the same person regardless of choice. Please forgive my lack of faith, and my poor memory.

 

[felicemastronzo]

I'm curious as to what you expect me to want revenge for? Maybe we'll learn something new in Episode 23, but AFAWK the gold digger isn't the one who denied the MC his inheritance; depending on your point of view, that was either Donald or the MC himself. The GD might be trying to get the MC's money, but (unless the will conditions we've learned are false) her efforts haven't done much to thwart us. We still get to make the final choice ourselves: Monica (et al) or the money. If it bothers me that the GD gets her money when the MC doesn't, that seems more like resentment than vengeance.

Now it's entirely possible there's more we don't know about yet. Maybe the GD has been more successful screwing over Elaine and Elaine really would have helped the MC out if she'd been given the chance. And maybe the GD has plans to trick the MC into seeing Monica and the girls if he tries to pick the money. Those would be things that might warrant revenge. Likewise, if it turns out that Elaine didn't need my help to keep the house and just wanted some cheap real estate, I shall be very put out. The problem is that I can't plan revenge against those slights until I actually know about them.

So the question feels a little premature to me. As of right now, my intention when the gold digger is unmasked to is to understand what the hell has been going on. Anything else must wait for that first step to complete.

what you say is true only with respect to strongly secondary characters such as Theresa, Wanda, and perhaps Angel, where there is less involvement.

But on the other alternatives there is coumnque a huge problem of betrayed trust and fairly repeated omissions.

Let's take off the table right away the case that the gold digger was one of the "family" group, which would be morally a huge betrayal of MC.

but even sticking to the 2 main suspects there would be several situations to clarify. if the gold digger was Bella she would have continually lied to MC to manipulate him we don't really know for what purpose, we would have to question almost every word she uttered, every time she tried to make Elaine look bad, every clue she passed on to MC etc etc. she is probably the character who would become more difficult to trust in the aftermath of the revelation, she would really need a very good motivation to justify herself, and the legacy would not be enough to regain credibility.

to a lesser extent, however, this also applies to Jolina; the whole bankruptcy thing at that point would just be a set-up to get MC to help her, also a textbook manipulation. and given how central Jolina's economic difficulties have been to her history with MC, this would call almost everything into question, even without considering any malice in the matter of the security footage that would catch Elaine.

 

[ramvivat]

I'm curious what you guys want/intend when the gold digger is unmasked?

if her arguments are convincing enough and if my heart says that she is telling the truth, I will probably forgive.

I remember there was a screen character Yuri Detochkin from the comedy "Beware of the Car" - he stole cars, sold them, and sent all the money to the accounts of orphanages without leaving a penny for himself. in case you say that this only happens in the movies, I will answer that Yuri Detochkin had a real prototype, Boris Vengrover.

as an option - for the diligence of the ladies of compensation to the gold digger from the money that he took from her. so that she at least gets something (after all, I must admit she did a gigantic job)

there is a parable: the wife of a poor priest wakes him up in the middle of the night: - wake up, there are thieves in our house, go chase them away - why worry? let them find something first. and take away little work.

the thief was looking for and FOUND what we could not find by doing our job for us - for which he is due gratitude, to be honest. Is this option considered good for everyone?