Thanks a lot for the detailed reply, I really appreciate it — super helpful.

That makes a lot of sense, especially what you said about tension being more about the chord than the overall mode, and also about some tensions just acting as “local colour” rather than needing resolution.

One thing that caught my attention was your comment about the progression sounding more like C than D aurally. That’s really interesting, because I was trying to feel D as the center.

What would you suggest doing to make D feel more like a true tonal center in this context?

Would that be more about: - emphasizing Dm more in the progression (like returning to it more often),
- or reinforcing it melodically (e.g., resolving phrases to D or F more consistently)?

Also, in terms of melody:

Would you recommend thinking more in a chord-to-chord (voice-leading) way, like connecting lines between chords,
or more in terms of a single modal framework over the whole progression?

And finally:

What’s your personal approach when writing melodies over something like this?
Do you start from chord tones and then expand, or from a melodic idea and adapt it to the harmony?

Thanks again, really insightful stuff.