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Eric: April's Disembodied Better Self!!!
(From (College Roomies from Hell! Click on the thumbnail for full sized April's disembodied better self!!!)
April's disembodied better self!
April's disembodied better self!
April's disembodied better self!
Perhaps I'd better explain.
In the olden days of the strip, April was a conflicted but basically sweet girl who had nasty impulses. She also had a conscience -- a better self. A better April. Who would float around behind April and talk her out of her nastiness. An imaginary, wiser self.
And then one day we saw that wiser self, wearing clown makeup, die.
It was a poignant moment -- a moment that reflected April's full on embracing of sheer evil. The kind of sheer evil we associate with Mike, but without Mike's sense of pragmatism. Mike never forgets he's in a battle with Satan, so even though he wants to do evil things, it sometimes makes the most sense to do good ones. Mike also thinks of other people (as much as it seems like he doesn't, sometimes), so even though he's ruthless, he also recognizes that sometimes you need to do unto others if you want what's coming onto you.
April, on the other hand, became entirely selfish. Her pranks have reflected a real cruel streak, and she's clearly been willing to do anything to drive Marsha and Mike apart, because "she loves Mike." As a result, Mike's hatred of April is complete, and I don't much get a sense anyone else much likes her either.
Seeing April's disembodied better self shatters expectations, to be honest. It's a sign that there's still something in April that wants to be a good person -- who recognizes that everything she's done has just made her life progressively worse.
I personally expect April to specifically kill it. If the Roomies are fighting the Devil, April's already surrendered.
But either way -- wow. This rocks. April's disembodied better self!
Posted by Eric Burns-White at October 7, 2005 10:32 AM
Comments
Comment from: Dragonmuncher posted at October 7, 2005 12:50 PM
This is why I keep telling myself I'll buy some of the CRFH!!! books Martiza sells through her site. There's an entire line of books just called "April's Secret," which go into April's backstory, and other stuff.
Obviously I can't be very specific, because I still haven't read the damn things.
I'm fairly sure that the last April's Secret shows how the Imaginary Floating Wiser April comes back, or something.
So... everyone go give Martiza money.
Comment from: HydrogenGuy posted at October 7, 2005 1:31 PM
Or maybe Maritza just forgot that April's Disembodied Better Self was dead ;)
Comment from: PatMan posted at October 7, 2005 6:23 PM
I'm pretty sure the books explain where it came from in the first place, since it would explain the whole dying with clown make-up thing. I want those books!
And seeing floaty April again was definately a shock.
Comment from: Wistful Dreamer posted at October 7, 2005 7:16 PM
Or just possibly Martiza is trying to get unpainted out of the corner, and give us a reason to want the protagonists to succeed. The strip is rapidly running out of heroes and sympathetic characters. April trying to tangle with Mike's mother to hurt him possibly turning into her concience getting her to do something right (or not) is one of the last ways to salvage her character's usefulness to the plotline.
Comment from: Maritza Campos posted at October 7, 2005 11:37 PM
Yes, it's all explained in April's Secret. Along with some other juicy, juicy things. :D
Actually, I'm not aiming for sympathetic characters. If they were all nice, they wouldn't be from Hell. The nicest guy among them all is Roger, followed by Marsha. They're not exactly the most popular.
Bunch of jerks, they are. But sometimes, they try.
0nce in a while ;)
Comment from: Wistful Dreamer posted at October 8, 2005 1:00 AM
Well, I guess I don't know what I'm talking about. :)
Either way, nice for April to be actually doing something, as opposed to just commenting from the sidelines while Dave and Mike do all the fun stuff.
Comment from: gwalla posted at October 8, 2005 3:26 PM
Please, Eric, it's Imaginary Floating Wiser April.
Comment from: Tangent posted at October 8, 2005 5:21 PM
Well, looks like Gwalla and Maritza have both beaten me on this...
Yes, IFWA returned in the final panel of "April's Secret" in a rather fun and delightfully whimsical and yet touching moment.
It's good to see her back in the web comic as well (which of course also states that April's Secret is in the past now... and we may see more of those twists showing up in the comic).
Still, I seriously recommend you order the print comics, Eric. And the rest of you as well. :D
Robert A. Howard, Tangents Webcomic Reviews
http://www.tangents.us
Comment from: Kneefers posted at October 9, 2005 11:14 AM
"Actually, I'm not aiming for sympathetic characters. If they were all nice, they wouldn't be from Hell. The nicest guy among them all is Roger, followed by Marsha. They're not exactly the most popular."
Actually, I've always really sympathized with Dave. He's done some things that weren't exactly on the level, but he's also had some seriously hard stuff happen to him, especially the whole mess with Margaret. I just really want it to work out for all of them. That's one of the things I love about CRfH: I want to see all of the characters end up happy, dispite their shortcomings.
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