VN Ren'Py Where the Heart Is [S1 v2024-09-06 BETA] [CheekyGimp]

[Harlaw]

It's definitely shady, but that cuts both ways. If the nebulous conspiracy had that video the whole time, why wait to show it to the MC? If they only created the video once it was clear the MC knew about the forged emails, how did they create the video? For that mater, what do they expect to accomplish with it? Why give the MC evidence he can take directly to Elaine? It would have been just as effective (and harder to backfire) to have Jolina claim to recognize Elaine when the MC showed her picture the first time.

We know something weird is going on, but I still don't think we have enough information to speculate productively.

Well, we know that the gold digger knows the conditions of the other two recipients. Now assuming that it really is Bella, she'll be aware of the fact that a certain point, the MC will have to make a decision about the house and that it's Elaine's condition.

So why would she want to turn the MC against Elaine? Simple, even if it has nothing to do with her own will condition, by getting rid of Elaine she increases her share of the inheritance by 50%. And if she can knock the MC out of the picture, she'll get the whole shebang.

Why hold on to the video for so long? Because if she knows the will conditions, she might also know the time frame of when the MC has to make the decision. If the MC had the video earlier, he could've confronted Elaine and she might have been able to set him straight. They purposely waited to give you the evidence at the last minute and even then Bella told you to not confront Elaine with the footage.

And it's not impossible to deep fake someone's face accurately enough that it might fool some people, especially with a low quality footage. Someone like Jolina, who has shown that she has some tech skills, could pull it off.

 

[ename144]

Well, we know that the gold digger knows the conditions of the other two recipients. Now assuming that it really is Bella, she'll be aware of the fact that a certain point, the MC will have to make a decision about the house and that it's Elaine's condition.

We don't actually know that. We only know that one of the other beneficiaries knows the conditions. It could be Dizzy, but it could also be Elaine. As usual, our clues are incomplete.

If we believe Bella's story, Elaine is indeed the one who knows all the conditions. If we doubt Bella's story, the most likely explanation is that Bella is Dizzy and she's the one who knows all the conditions. I'm firmly in the "doubt Bella" camp, but we won't know for sure for another month.

So why would she want to turn the MC against Elaine? Simple, even if it has nothing to do with her own will condition, by getting rid of Elaine she increases her share of the inheritance by 50%. And if she can knock the MC out of the picture, she'll get the whole shebang.

Why hold on to the video for so long? Because if she knows the will conditions, she might also know the time frame of when the MC has to make the decision. If the MC had the video earlier, he could've confronted Elaine and she might have been able to set him straight. They purposely waited to give you the evidence at the last minute and even then Bella told you to not confront Elaine with the footage.

But why give him the video at all? As is the only reason the MC didn't confront Elaine with it is that a) he completely botched the question when he could ask her in Episode 21, and b) he's too lazy to drive over to her house in Episode 22. Why leave that to chance? Accusing Elaine verbally seems likely to accomplish at least 85% of the effect with less effort and lower risk.

And it's not impossible to deep fake someone's face accurately enough that it might fool some people, especially with a low quality footage. Someone like Jolina, who has shown that she has some tech skills, could pull it off.

I'm going to have to disagree. The MC knows Elaine well, and if she isn't clearly visible in the footage it's useless as a smoking gun. That's not something Jolina's known skillset could easily fake. She might be able to edit footage of Elaine into a different background to make it look like she was at the cafe when she wasn't, but I even that would be a stretch (and it would beg the question of where she got footage of Elaine to begin with).

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.

I think the footage really is Elaine, though the context could still be misleading. If it turns out to be otherwise, we're going to need a very solid explanation for how that happened.

 

[felicemastronzo]

If that is so... why would she/they even want to romance the MC? Dizzy would have to make sure he gets involved with any of the three women. Or do you think Jolina's involvement of Jenna is the plan to make sure the MC will at least become romantically entangled with Jenna (her punishment can result in sex)? That is one heck of a gamble that makes no sense, since chances are the MC may find Jolina a lot more interesting (or Bella) and go all in with either of them. I mean as cute as Jenna is, she's weird and inexperienced and Jolina (even Bella) is one heck of a woman with experience and allure. A lot of men may find that much more attractive. If I were Dizzy I would make damn sure that the MC falls in love with Monica, Katie or Jenna and not create a temptation for him to leave them. Instead I would see to it that the MC gets very close to them. Which much better fits Elaine of course, if she wrote that email. But my feeling is her plan is to get all the money... and then share some of it with the MC if he treats her will, gives her the house etc. to redeem herself for the many years she treated him coldly and keeping her distance at the insistance of the dad.

the first goal of all 3 heirs is to fulfill their own conditions, only after that can they think about hindering the other 2.

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

 

[Geralt_R]

the first goal of all 3 heirs is to fulfill their own conditions, only after that can they think about hindering the other 2.

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

That doesn't sound right though? The lawyer explicitly states that the car, the 100k and the beach house are absolutely and irrevocably the property of the MC, no matter what? And will still be his even if he doesn't sign his contract and relinquishes his claim on his part of the inheritance? So in my opinion Bella and Jolina going after the beach house makes no sense.

 

[DaimonFey]

That doesn't sound right though? The lawyer explicitly states that the car, the 100k and the beach house are absolutely and irrevocably the property of the MC, no matter what? And will still be his even if he doesn't sign his contract and relinquishes his claim on his part of the inheritance? So in my opinion Bella and Jolina going after the beach house makes no sense.

Same here, unless there is something hidden there but as to what it is, I don't know

 

[felicemastronzo]

That doesn't sound right though? The lawyer explicitly states that the car, the 100k and the beach house are absolutely and irrevocably the property of the MC, no matter what? And will still be his even if he doesn't sign his contract and relinquishes his claim on his part of the inheritance? So in my opinion Bella and Jolina going after the beach house makes no sense.

That doesn't sound right though? The lawyer explicitly states that the car, the 100k and the beach house are absolutely and irrevocably the property of the MC, no matter what? And will still be his even if he doesn't sign his contract and relinquishes his claim on his part of the inheritance? So in my opinion Bella and Jolina going after the beach house makes no sense.

The beach house has something to do with it, the determination with which Bella does everything to stay there cannot be accidental.
But even if I'm wrong about that, the point remains that her first goal is to get her own way before thwarting other contenders.

 

[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.