Weird question about Dahlia

Ten years after the original game and Harry's still searching for his daughter.

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
Pastucci
Just Passing Through
Posts: 130
Joined: 12 Jan 2015
Gender: Female
Location: Pennsylvania

Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Pastucci »

So I haven't played this game in about 2 years, but..

Did Young Dahlia live on the boat ( think it's called the Orpheus?)
We know that Cheryl lives above the Green Lion Pawn Shop ( I believe where the older dahlia lives now with her), and Lisa lives (or lived) at the Nightingale Apartments, but where did Young Dahlia live?

I know at one point, Dahlia, Harry and Cheryl all lived on Levin Street in a house I believe, but maybe moved above the pawn shop after harry, ya know...not trying to spoil anything here...

Anyone else thought about this?
Heaven's Night
<3
User avatar
AuraTwilight
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11390
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Location: I'm here, and waiting for you
Contact:

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by AuraTwilight »

Young Dahlia jacked the boat like a punk. She lived at the Green Lion Pawn Shop because the two Dahlias are the same.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
User avatar
Pastucci
Just Passing Through
Posts: 130
Joined: 12 Jan 2015
Gender: Female
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Pastucci »

I must of missed the part where she does that.

So Dahlia has always lived above the pawn shop the whole time?
I mean, I know the young Dahlia maybe just a figment of Cheryl's mind, but it's kinda confusing...
Heaven's Night
<3
User avatar
Kenji
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 5077
Joined: 19 Jul 2007

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Kenji »

Not sure where the actual young Dahlia lived, myself. I guess I never thought of it as terribly important, given young Dahlia's role in the story.

Even the presumption that the younger Dahlia looked like that, which is based mostly on Harry's not complaining (what with his scrambled brains, and all) might be presuming too much.

But, yeah, Dahlia took the boat for her Hot 'n' Steamy Harry Cruise. Did such a thing actually happen? I doubt it. Is it something the younger Dahlia would've done? Maybe. By that point in the story, her role's already shifted, so the logic or historicity of it never really bothered me.

Punk girls were poor in the 70s (as opposed to now, where they're rich and idle), so she could've lived on the bad side of town. On the other hand, she idolizes the retarded romance of Sid and Nancy, so she could also be a latecomer, after punk began to gentrify (much like rap has). So, she could've also been a rebellious girl from the better side of town. Considering her thematic confluence as a character, I might be more inclined to bet on that.

But that same confluence also keeps me from being too sure of that,
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
because a modern girl like Heather would only know of the Sid/Nancy legend, thanks to the Gary Oldman movie, unless she were specifically a Johnny Rotten fan, or put in a lot of research into the subject. In any case, young Dahlia and Heather are so intertwined that it's very difficult to separate them by individual characteristics.
Though, I think we can conclude that Harry and Dahlia were into punk rock as opposed to, I dunno, Kansas. Being into the same music (and each other's bodies) is the sort of thing young love is made of. The manner in which they encountered punk, especially since they're not British and therefore couldn't have come to the Pistols at the beginning, is an important detail that's completely omitted, because it plays into which side of the tracks they were on.

There's probably a fair amount of information that can be gleaned indirectly from details like these. Nothing too conclusive, but interesting, nonetheless.
Image
User avatar
Pastucci
Just Passing Through
Posts: 130
Joined: 12 Jan 2015
Gender: Female
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Pastucci »

^
Dahlia did seem to be a "true punk" rather than just going through a phase. Her personality fully matched the punk lifestyle.

The fact that she even knew who Sid&Nancy were, tells me that she had indeed listened to the Sex Pistols...Most "punks" nowadays are just fashionists (if that is even a word) rather than living the real punk lifestyle, and have no clue who the Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Misfits, or L7 are.
And these same "fashionists" don't even really listen to Nirvana (aside from knowing Smells Like Teen Spirit), a band who were HEAVILY inspired by punk music.

Basically, I'm saying that Dahlia is a badass punk chick through and through.


As far as whether Dahlia actually looked and acted like that in real life ( in her younger life I mean)?

I would say yeah I think she did. Cheryl could've seen pictures of her mother when she was younger, dressed like that, which would of explained why we see the Young Dahlia as we do ( all of the variations are spunky, flirty and have short hair).
Heaven's Night
<3
PeachySakura24
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 2571
Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Gender: Female
Location: Insomnia land, where I am Queen!
Contact:

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by PeachySakura24 »

I could be way off, but I just assumed that the young Dahlia we see in the game didn't exist. Harry is looking for his daughter at a high school, and then encounters 2 young women in Michelle and Dahlia. Due to your choices changing how other characters appear in the game, I figured that Dahlia was always her proper adult age, but since Harry wasn't quite ready to see her that way because she would be so much older, he saw her as young.

Since young Dahlia is really old Dahlia, she lives above the pawn shop. Maybe in their younger years, she and Harry did steal a boat for sexy fun times, or maybe even lived on the boat before they became parents.
User avatar
Pastucci
Just Passing Through
Posts: 130
Joined: 12 Jan 2015
Gender: Female
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Pastucci »

^

Everything in the game is manifested by Cheryl, and the reason why we see Dahlia as a younger woman comes from some source in which Cheryl used to manifest her with (whether this source was a photo of Dahlia when she was younger, or something Cheryl had overheard growing up, etc).

It's kind of like how Alessa conjured up the creatures in the first Silent Hill game from her books, stories, and other mementos. ( an example being the Pteradactyl monsters, that originated from her book of The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There has to be a real source in order for something to be manifested. But that is just my opinion, I could be wrong.

But I hope that helps :)
Heaven's Night
<3
PeachySakura24
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 2571
Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Gender: Female
Location: Insomnia land, where I am Queen!
Contact:

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by PeachySakura24 »

Cheryl had an ideal hero version of Harry in her mind, and saw her mom as the villain. Harry doesn't even seem to remember who his wife was to begin with, so maybe seeing her as she should be would make him remember everything and cease to exist?
User avatar
Pastucci
Just Passing Through
Posts: 130
Joined: 12 Jan 2015
Gender: Female
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Pastucci »

PeachySakura24 wrote:Cheryl had an ideal hero version of Harry in her mind, and saw her mom as the villain. Harry doesn't even seem to remember who his wife was to begin with, so maybe seeing her as she should be would make him remember everything and cease to exist?
^

I don't think he would remember anything at all, it would be Cheryl who would need to remember.

The Harry we see in the game is created by Cheryl's mind, her memories, and how she wants her dad to appear.... like you said, Cheryl saw her Dad as a hero, so we see Harry in the game being heroic, persistently searching for his lost little daughter..

As far as why he doesn't remember who Dahlia is, that could be because, since Cheryl is estranged with her mother, which is emulated through Harry, who doesn't know who Dahlia is at all. (to put it simply, since Cheryl resents her Mother, she creates Harry to not even bother knowing/recognizing her at all in the game).
Heaven's Night
<3
PeachySakura24
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 2571
Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Gender: Female
Location: Insomnia land, where I am Queen!
Contact:

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by PeachySakura24 »

Just to make the game more fun for me, I like to link this game with the original by pretending that our version of Harry is the aftermath of the Jeep ending. His spirit will keep travelling Silent Hill until he finds his daughter, and then he will have peace at last. If you have ever watched Ghost Whisperer, it is like that for me. Harry has been in a state of limbo until Cheryl's therapy sessions "woke" him, and now her suffering is guiding him to her, and once he sees she is ok(or will be), he can move on. They had to remove the scene with Jennifer Love Hewitt due to copyright issues. :D
User avatar
Pastucci
Just Passing Through
Posts: 130
Joined: 12 Jan 2015
Gender: Female
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Pastucci »

That actually makes sense, I never saw it seen that way before...
Now I will have to replay the game with this in mind :)
Heaven's Night
<3
User avatar
Tabris
Brookhaven Receptionist
Posts: 804
Joined: 12 May 2009
Gender: Male
Location: Quebec, Canada

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Tabris »

PeachySakura24 wrote:Just to make the game more fun for me, I like to link this game with the original by pretending that our version of Harry is the aftermath of the Jeep ending. His spirit will keep travelling Silent Hill until he finds his daughter, and then he will have peace at last. If you have ever watched Ghost Whisperer, it is like that for me. Harry has been in a state of limbo until Cheryl's therapy sessions "woke" him, and now her suffering is guiding him to her, and once he sees she is ok(or will be), he can move on.
This is what I always did too. I found it made the game way more interesting and for my friends who were familiar with the original game, made it so much cooler. Plus way more emotional since almost all of my friends felt like they were punched in the gut by the end of Shattered Memories.
PeachySakura24
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 2571
Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Gender: Female
Location: Insomnia land, where I am Queen!
Contact:

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by PeachySakura24 »

That train of thought made secondary playthroughs more fun for me. The first time I played the game, I was so frustrated by the Raw Shocks that I quit and didn't play again for 5 years. Once you hit the end, they make sense both in the context of this game and the original. Harry can't use weapons to save himself this time because he simply can't be saved. The only thing he can do now is find Cheryl and try to help her to heal so that he can finally find peace, and the monsters are Cheryl's way of keeping him from leaving her for good because she isn't ready.
User avatar
Pastucci
Just Passing Through
Posts: 130
Joined: 12 Jan 2015
Gender: Female
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Pastucci »

^

An interesting observation I made that points towards this, is if you listen closely to the raw shocks, they say "don't run!" in that weird reverb sound..as if to say "Don't leave me", like how you are saying.

I can't seem to find a clip of it, but I noticed it whenever I played the game.
Heaven's Night
<3
PeachySakura24
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 2571
Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Gender: Female
Location: Insomnia land, where I am Queen!
Contact:

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by PeachySakura24 »

I am replaying all of the games with my son, so when we hit Shattered Memories, I will keep an ear out for that. I never heard them say anything, but it makes sense to me that they would.
User avatar
Pastucci
Just Passing Through
Posts: 130
Joined: 12 Jan 2015
Gender: Female
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Weird question about Dahlia

Post by Pastucci »

^

Hey Peachy! Long time, did you ever get around to hearing that audio?
Heaven's Night
<3
Post Reply