[Cold-Factor]

Here's an interesting screenshot from one of our most beloved adventure games of all time. Disturbing undertones aside, I always found it interesting that in the flashback scenes young April was portrayed to have blonde hair, but in the rest of the game she had dark hair, and also in Dreamfall as well. I guess that could be explained with hair dye, but I doubt 10 years in Arcadia, and the hair dye wouldn't fade away. But maybe by the 23rd century, they've invented permanent hair dyes?

[GoT]

thats scary shit there ,that quote ! is it really her daddy? whats he gonna do??

[Ledz]

Spoiler:

At that scene she's seeing an image of her father from her memory as a child. In that scene we learn that he probably sexually abused her when she was a kid, and later on in the scene she confronts him (her biggest fear) and probably takes down a few psychological barriers in the process, and gets to go on with her quest.

[Jelena]

Originally Posted by Cold-Factor

I always found it interesting that in the flashback scenes young April was portrayed to have blonde hair, but in the rest of the game she had dark hair, and also in Dreamfall as well. I guess that could be explained with hair dye,

That's not that strange. Your hair colour can change. My hubby was really blonde as a kid but over the years it got strikingly darker. And now it's turning grey
My daughter was born with very dark hair, but now as a teenager her hair is blonde.
I don't know if that happens more often in the Nordic countries. I'm thinking TLJ is a Norwegian production.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by LenaJ

I don't know if that happens more often in the Nordic countries.

I don't think so. I had blonde, very straight hair as a child, which later turned brown and wavy and has been ever since.

[kuddles]

It's actually quite common for children to have blonde hair that darkens when they grow older. My younger brother did that.

And that scene was intense. I didn't care for the game much myself, but that part felt really genuine, if a little nonsensical in its context.

[Cathy1]

Ah The Longest Journey. Fond memories indeed. Played it about 6 times.
Cathy

[AFGNCAAP]

I have enjoyed TLJ very much, its story in particular, but that scene - although admittedly set up for from the beginning (see April's phonecalls home and her diary) - felt really out of place to me.

And I was born with black hair, then went almost blonde, and gradually through many shades of brownish returned to quite dark again.

[such great heights]

That scene was terribly confusing. I hope, but doubt, that there's some conclusion to April's story in Dreamfall (currently playing).

[Jazhara7]

As the other's already said, it's quite common for the hair colour to change as you grow older. Here's some photos of me to show the difference.



I was 6 years old at that time. By the way, I was trying to imitate the statue of the Virgin Mary at that time, though I seem to have failed, terribly.

Don't pay attention to the top of the hair. It's just an effect from the lighting there (which was very gloomy at that time) and a flash light. My hair was as blonde as the strands around the sides of my face in that picture.


This was taken in the summer of 2005 at the age of 18, obviously in Heaven.

As you can see, my hair was quite a bit lighter when I was six than it is now. I've never dyed, bleached, or tried to change the colour of my hair in any way. You should also know that I still have quite light hair for my age. I know other people that were blonde as kids that now would be described as having brown hair (while I am still being described as having blonde hair. Dark gold blond. That second picture has very little shinyness about it, because it was warm and I had to wash my hair at the end of that day.)

Also, during the summer blonde hair (as well as brown hair) appears a lighter colour, both due to the fact that the sun *does* bleach hair when there's enough of it (That's why grown up sailors are said to sometimes have very light coloured hair. They're in the sun a lot. Unless they're too far north, of course.), as well as the better light conditions experienced in the Northern Hemisphere during summer. Keeping that in mind, I should add that the picture in the museum was taken in November (So that was my winter blonde colour), and the one in "Heaven" was taken on the 4th of September (which was, if I recall, a very sunny day. The other pictures from that day are sunny for sure.).

@Ledz: I think it was slightly different. Don't read the following spoiler if you haven't played through that scene already, because it CONTAINS A COMPLETE SPOILER FOR THE SOLUTION OF THAT SCENE. Seriously, it gives away the thing you need to do to solve this trial, *AND* it explains the logic behind that solution. I ain't kidding you, don't even sneak a peak, unless you have really finished that part of the game already. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Spoiler:

I don't think he sexually abused her. But I think he hit her. That's enough to make a child fear someone.

When he dropped her as a kid he was devastated, and blamed himself when the doctors said she might not be able to walk. Even when he saw she started to walk, he still blamed himself. You could explain the logic that makes him hurt April, when he thinks that he himself has to be punished this way: He probably didn't think he deserved the love of his daugther, because he had put her in danger, and had hurt her when she was a baby [An event that April could most likely not even remember, thus not giving her a possibility to draw the connection between that accident and the continued cruelty from her father.], even if it wasn't on purpose. So he punishes himself by making sure that his daughter does not love him, by hurting her and making her fear him. Even though he hurt, he still loved her as his daughter, as shown by the ring he gave her for her 16th Birthday.

It's a twisted kind of logic, but nobody ever claimed that psychological issues had to work with common sense. That's the whole point of them, they don't make sense when you think about it, so psychological counselling there is to correct this grotesque kind of logic.

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[Ledz]

Yeah, I remember now that that's what he said... still doesn't contradict the abuse bit, and that part where he says "I'll make it all quiet" sounds extremely like innuendo to me. the entire tone of the conversation just screams to me of it. I guess it could be my own psyche throwing a bit of it's own inside... maybe I should get that looked at.

[Cold-Factor]

Originally Posted by Ledz

Yeah, I remember now that that's what he said... still doesn't contradict the abuse bit, and that part where he says "I'll make it all quiet" sounds extremely like innuendo to me. the entire tone of the conversation just screams to me of it. I guess it could be my own psyche throwing a bit of it's own inside... maybe I should get that looked at.

LOL, you've probably been watching too much CSI or Law & Order; those shows can really insert some preemptive warped ideas into one's head. But Jazhara7 is right, if you don't pay close attention to April's past, you probably won't understand the full circumstances behind her dad's abuse. Oh, and thanks to everyone for clarifying the hair issue, I guess because I've always had dark hair, I was never fully aware about natural hair colour change.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Jazhara7

This was taken in the summer of 2005 at the age of 18, obviously in Heaven.

Are there no chairs in heaven?

[Jazhara7]

Originally Posted by Cold-Factor

LOL, you've probably been watching too much CSI or Law & Order; those shows can really insert some preemptive warped ideas into one's head. But Jazhara7 is right, if you don't pay close attention to April's past, you probably won't understand the full circumstances behind her dad's abuse. Oh, and thanks to everyone for clarifying the hair issue, I guess because I've always had dark hair, I was never fully aware about natural hair colour change.

And don't forget eye colour. Eye colour changes over the years. I know somebody who used to have eyes of a very golden colour when she was small, but it slowly changed to a different colour (I can't remember which, though. I think it was a middle brown). In fact eye colour changes slightly over the years, not only at a young age (though it seems to do so the most at that time) - Liz Taylor is said to have eyes of a purplish hue right now.


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