#i've said it before but yeah ultimately harry set the tone for their relationship

[57sfinest]

More Crane Wives thoughts.

I don't know why but The Crane Wives music always reminds me of Dora foremost. Like yeah asshole move to leave Harry but take a look at it from her perspective. Harry was a mess when she found him, I have no idea why she recommended Harry to be part of the rcm. Harry was the first "true" relationship she had. I'm pretty sure she even has dialogues that states he started having his... Brain friends before the break up. I love Harry but I can see why Dora left, she could have done it in a much better manner. But then again I wouldn't put it past Harry to... Throw a tantrum in a multitude of ways.

The Crane Wives often have songs that tell a story of a bride who sees the ring like shackles. Also songs about women standing up (or just being toxic themselves) because of past relationships. "The moon will sing" could be a song to look at. The narrator describes of only shining with the light that their partner gives them. What if in a way that could mean the deification of their partner? They also say that they could have been anything until their partner decided for them.

Idk maybe I'm just stoned.

well see here's the thing, we have no idea what harry was like when dora met him. the last dream says that dora thought he was cool and that's really it. i imagine he was fine when they met or they never would've dated, or at least not for long. she was young and impressionable when they met and he was her first for almost everything. dora likely pushed harry to join the RCM because she didn't see teaching high school gym as a "real job" (jean says something about women pushing their guys into "fighting the good fight" so it may have been for a reason similar to that). then the stress of that job slowly tipped harry into becoming the mess we see him as in-game-- in the last dream it is implied (if psy is your highest stat) that yeah, harry had the voices and was talking to things pre-breakup. but dora leaving wasn't an asshole move, getting out of an unfulfilling, unhealthy and very likely abusive relationship isn't an asshole move. we don't know how she broke up with him, we only know what he thinks she might have done, and that comes after 6 years and full retrograde amnesia, so harry's recollection of it is completely untrustworthy. you have to remember that the seafort dream is just that: a dream. it is an amnesiac's warped perception of a deeply emotionally triggering event, a dream which he has after significant physical and emotional trauma sustained during the tribunal. while i think it's true that dora wasn't a saint or perfectly well-behaved, there was a significant power imbalance in harry's favor & it was his behavior that drove her off.

in the dream dora definitely talks a lot about what harry has made her and what he's turned their relationship into, so yeah, it could be thematically consistent there. when you can say that she's a star and she denies the claim, for example, or when harry can say that "she made him shit" and dora stands up for herself against that.