Let's talk Dahlia

Post by **Slow White** » 23 Dec 2009

I quite enjoyed the new take on the character and her voice actress but I think I am experiencing a bit of temporary confusion. Is Dahlia suppose to be Cheryl's biological mother? I was under the assumption that she was "the other woman" in Harry's life.

I think I recall her referring to herself as Harry's girlfriend and his gift (great sex life) and his curse
(reason he isn't with his family). I believe she also said that she has heard of Cheryl but my confusion meter grows because older Dahlia claims to be his wife and I think she said something about Cheryl being her daughter.

Is the blond haired woman shown with Harry at the car, beating Harry and hugging Cheryl at the end Dahlia or someone else because the Dahlia in my playthrough had dyed purple hair.

I figured Cheryl hated her mother for driving Harry away to Dahlia but I may be very wrong on this.

Post by **simeonalo** » 23 Dec 2009

The whole game was a hallucination, it never happened. Dahlia IS Cheryl's biological mother.

Post by **EpicPhaleg** » 23 Dec 2009

Lets talk Dahlia - would you....wouldn't you?

Post by **vanbakura** » 23 Dec 2009

The following is my opinion, not fact:
I imagine that Harry and Dahlia met when she was quite young (notice the frozen family). Harry enjoyed the company of a cool sexy young girl but that all ended when she got pregnant and became a total bitch. She probably resented Harry and Cheryl for taking away her youth.
This leads me to believe the young Dahlia Harry sees in his frozen timeline is how Harry wants to remember her.

Post by **Slow White** » 23 Dec 2009

simeonalo wrote:The whole game was a hallucination, it never happened. Dahlia IS Cheryl's biological mother.

I understand that the whole game was Cheryl's own revisionist history but the blond woman and Dahlia threw me off a bit. So she was Dahlia apparently...I see....

@Epic, probably not she looks like she gets around quite a bit.

Post by **soam108** » 23 Dec 2009

vanbakura wrote:
This leads me to believe the young Dahlia Harry sees in his frozen timeline is how Harry wants to remember her.

You mean Cheryl wants to remember, this is not Harry's fantasy.

Post by **Loveless_Dogg** » 23 Dec 2009

Slow White wrote:
simeonalo wrote:The whole game was a hallucination, it never happened. Dahlia IS Cheryl's biological mother.
I understand that the whole game was Cheryl's own revisionist history but the blond woman and Dahlia threw me off a bit. So she was Dahlia apparently...I see....

I think a comment made by Dahlia herself in my play through tends to contradict this claim.

Harry: You know my Daughter?!
Dahlia: I know of her.

...but that's kinda how I took that quote.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 23 Dec 2009

Young Dahlia is how Dahlia was before she married Harry, mixed in with Cheryl's own personality and essence for her weird Elecktra Complex incestual fantasies.

Post by **HeathersVincentFangirlBFF** » 24 Dec 2009

In the Wicked and the Weak ending, OMG I JUST WANTED TO FALCON PAWNCH HER IN THE FACE

WHAT A BITCH.

Post by **Silent One** » 24 Dec 2009

I'm almost certain, like Harry, both versions of Dahlia are not real.

Considering the fact that if you get the "good" ending, you see a blonde haired woman that looks nothing like Dahlia, coupled with the fact that Dahlia in both forms resembles Cheryl (younger one especially), and that fact that she knows OF her, all point to the fact to me that they are fake like Harry.

This all ties into an Electra Complex that I'm sure some of you felt as you played. Essentially it's a Freud idea *shivers* where the female child grows a loving fondness for her father, developing later on into a sexual love.

I support this claim based on the fact that she went a little mental after all that happened and she tried to have relations with an older man who was a teacher.

Of course, you may choose not to believe this, but it's the feeling I got from the point I was at the High school on. I didn't guess that immediately, but that feeling just sort of sat in the back of my head.

Back to Dahlia though, I believe they are made up people. The younger one is supposed to be more her at her age now and her desire to sleep with her father perhaps? As for the older one, more a desire to be his "one and only."

Disturbing stuff, but when the human mind is stressed too much it can develop many different complexes in life. That's my take on it. Dahlia in both forms is more a representation of her desires, not her actual mother who I believe we see as she leaves the office and in the good endings.

Post by **Slow White** » 24 Dec 2009

I kept feeling an Electra Complex early on as well, I kept hoping and praying that the ending didn't involve Harry sleeping with Cheryl. Thankfully that was not the case.

I was also kinda hoping I could deny Dahlia on the boat. Someone get a hold of Tom so we can ask straight up about Dahlia.

Post by **HeathersVincentFangirlBFF** » 24 Dec 2009

[quote]
I was also kinda hoping I could deny Dahlia on the boat.
[/quoteOH GOD when I saw that cutscene I was like, "Okay I think I just threw up in my mouth a little

"

Post by **LastGunslinger** » 24 Dec 2009

I am also of the opinion that Dahlia and Harry's wife (as seen in the home video) are two separate people, although the evidence presented isn't entirely conclusive one way or the other. Granted, I've only seen one ending, but there was no indication to me that they were the same person.

I like the idea of Dahlia being a representation of the bad traits Cheryl would associate with herself; in contrast with her desire to picture Harry as a fine and upstanding father, Dahlia is capricious and promiscuous, traits of Cheryl's that were hinted at based on various text messages and voice mails received in-game.

Post by **Darklighter** » 24 Dec 2009

The character of Dahlia in the game always had that eavil looking prencens in her eyes, dono why but for some reasson I thought she woud and up being a villian, much more like in the first game, but it turn up to be the other way around, I find it intresting though.

In some way the game tricked me I woud say :S

Post by **LaraeGunn** » 28 Dec 2009

All I could think of on the subject of Dahlia in the game was that horrible comic book and how the character named Dahlia in it was depicted.
Way too similar. Yuck.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 28 Dec 2009

You know, having actually read that comic, I honestly didn't connect the two at all. They're not in any way alike aside from both of them being "hot", and even then, in totally different ways.

Post by **Shattered** » 29 Dec 2009

I think that what happens in Dr.K's office and what's on the video tape are the only things that can be trusted, and that everything else is just a memory or false memory that may suggest one thing or another but is too susceptible to Cheryl's biases. There are some weird things - does Dahlia ever refer to Cheryl as her daughter? But the woman in the video tape looks like Dahlia to me... but I'm hideously poor at recognizing faces. So maybe it is just me?

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 29 Dec 2009

Dahlia is married to Harry, and she's the Eve to his Adam. Obvious implication is obvious. Plus, she's the only woman Cheryl demonizes, and thus the only woman who fits "Your mother isn't the monster you make her out to be."

Post by **Meathooks** » 30 Dec 2009

AuraTwilight wrote:Dahlia is married to Harry, and she's the Eve to his Adam. Obvious implication is obvious. Plus, she's the only woman Cheryl demonizes, and thus the only woman who fits "Your mother isn't the monster you make her out to be."

This. The woman that comes to pick up Cheryl at Kaufmann's office and the woman in the "Love Lost" and "Wicked and Weak" endings is Dahlia as well. If it sounds like Dahlia and looks like Dahlia...

Here's a question, does Dahlia's personality during the game always match her outfit, or is she like Cybil where you can get a mix-n-match. As far as I've been able to discern, Cybil has 3 outfits, and 2 personalities. I've only played the game twice though, so all Ive been able to see for myself from Dahlia is:

1) Camouflage pants Dahlia, in the SUV she told me that this isn't the first time I've acted strange.

2) 80's girl with jean shorts Dahlia, in the SUV she asked me if I thought we would like each other when we were sober, and called me chicken-shit... nice lady.

Anyways guess I'm just curious to see how other people got Dahlia to look and act.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 30 Dec 2009

Dahlia pretty much has the one personality to go with three outfits, but that one personality reacts differently depending on Harry's personality.

Pretty much all the characters are able to mix-and-match outfits and personalities. The only exception seems to be Michelle, but that may just be my inability to get naughty/sexy Pink Dress Michelle and Cute//Innocent Red Dress Michelle.